Notes From All Over: 200th Entry Edition

so....did you know that this would be my 200th blog entry? kinda kooky, huh?

seems like it came out of nowhere...

of course, between the storm. the fifteen (yes, count them: 15) days without power. this week being the close of last month's books at work. not to mention the 2009 budget was due this week.

and did i mention i didn't have power for fifteen days?

yeah... this blog entry came out of nowhere.

so, i kinda feel like a bit of a recap. maybe some thoughts on the past 200. probably more thoughts on the past three weeks.

but some thoughts. for the 200th entry...

hurricane horror stories
it seems so long ago now that a series on the horrors of the storm just seem, well, dated.

my friend steven and i hunkered down in my place with his two dogs, 96 bottles of water, six gallons of water, lots of bread and peanut butter... and WAY too much junk food. oh - and booze.

i really couldn't sleep as the night of the 12th turned into the early morning hours of the 13th of september. by 1:40 am - we had lost power. by 3am - we were in the thick of it, as the man says.

i spent the next three hours plugging up leaks on the north and west side of my apartment like some little dutch boy. all the while listening to the eerie screech of metal across cement from the construction site across the street from me. i thought for sure it was the mobile leasing office just waiting to fly into my apartment.

but it was so dark outside...and there was so much wind and rain... i couldn't see shit. and everytime i tried to peek outside the window - it felt like it was ready to pop in on me... so i ran and hid.

it was a long night... when the daylight began to break through the clouds and the pissing down rain of the early morning hours... i saw the road outside was a river... it was a giant storage unit that had been blown across the cement... and a shit load of downed trees, fences and shingles.

i am happy to admit: i was scared. i no longer need to wish for a category one hurricane.

just a tropical storm, in the future.

oh - and did i mention that steven slept through all of this.....?

15 days
it took centerpoint energy 15 days to get the lights on for me. all around me there were lights. i've discussed this. on the 15th day...early afternoon. the trucks descended on my neighborhood like bears (gay, not the animals) on an all you can eat hotdog contest. lots of hunky men flared out across the streets. and at about 4:20 pm... i watched the centerpoint man rise up to meet the blown transformer across the street from my living room.

he took the old one down. he hung a new one. he flipped the latch....and i turned to look at my ceiling fan.

15 days later...it began to spin.

jo jones: power woman
power was restored to my place of business five days after the storm. bigger problem: there was a giant oak on the building.

but councilwoman jolanda jones of houston came to the rescue and put us on the top of the priority list. (it's good being a nonprofit.) four pieces of heavy equipment and a crane later... the tree was off by friday. we reopened on monday.

jolanda jones was on survivor. and she pulled someone from a burning car a couple of months ago.

she's a superwoman. vote for her.

the election
i suppose i would be remiss if i didn't mention the election in my 200th entry. believe it or not.... the election has been going on for as long as i've been blogging.

madness, i know... but like crack for us politicos.

last week ole cryptkeeper mccain and the messiah known as obama debated in mississippi.

the debate was called a draw by most but i honestly felt like obama came off as the winner. and i say this with all due impartiality. mccain seemed confused and off his game throughout the debate... and he would fall back on stock answers obviously given to him by his handlers. "record" this and "leadership" that... and he would just unjustly attack obama with out and out lies.

and obama didn't let him get away with it....

obama was able to talk about a broader range of issues... from the economy to foreign policy. and he held his own on the stage with mccain in a foreign policy debate. was he great? no... but he was solid.

here's a simple way to know obama won the debate. my older brother is about as red as they come.... hates hillary like a good republican should... but he's not thrilled with either obama or mccain.

but it bugged the shit out of him that mccain would never...not once...look at obama.

obama would address mccain directly. he would look at him while he spoke. (you guys know i'm all about body language... just look back at my coverage of the hillary/obama debates.) but mccain just couldn't even bring himself to look at obama once.

and that really turned my brother off.

tonight... palin takes on biden and i'm probably looking forward to this more than any other debate.

my friend sally thinks biden should just bring out a globe, spin it and ask palin to name the president of any country his finger lands on. hell, ask her to name the country!

but i think biden has to be careful.... he can't come across as condescending or beating up on palin. he has a fine line he must walk.

palin...after interviews with gibson, couric and hannity, expectations are low. but don't let her fool you. we've already seen that she can charm a crowd.

also of note: both are gaffe machines. so let's see what happens.

football
the hurricane really fucked up my football viewing. i lost all of week 2 that first weekend. no college ball. no nfl. this a week after tom brady of the pats was injured and declared done for the season.

i can only imagine what i missed from the talking heads of the fox pregame show.

the following weekend... i was able to watch my beloved houston texans humiliate themselves. my friend rhoda and i went to a sports bar to watch the game. it was awful... the game, not the sports bar. the sports bar was, um, okay... some hot guys. but not nearly enough.

the texans also lost this past weekend..... but at least they were in the game against jacksonville.

and the texas longhorns are looking good so far this year. AP has them ranked at #5 after some major upsets last weekend. but i can't let this segment on football end without a shout out to my dear friend kristen.

kristen is a texas alum. and a good friend... she offered me access to her home (that never lost power) throughout my fifteen days. including for the games and the debate.

so...i took her up on the texas/rice game on the 20th.

i love kristen... i do. but never again..... and this all comes from love.

she told me to arrive early.. the game started at 6pm. "we have A/C," she reminded me. so i got there shortly before six....beer in hand. i was warned of the children. and there they were... all over the place.

the game started at 6. it was decided to DVR the game until everyone could settle down and watch it. by everyone i mean: kristen and her husband... their two children. the two sets of neighbors from across the street and their three children.... kristen's mother and stepfather and me.

first you had to corral the children... and feed them. but this one didn't like this and that one wanted grandma to sit by her.... and then you had to clean up after the children.

then the children had to play... and check daddy's ear and eyes and heart with the fake medical equipment. and one had to pretend to saw off the other kids' heads with his play chainsaw... (really? play chainsaw?) which caused problems. which caused a crying fit.

and then it was bath time and wash up time... but don't forget to go back across the street to get the toothbrush and toothpaste... and they need to change into pj's.

then it's time to say good night to everyone and kiss mom and dad and grandma and grandpa. oh - and then it's story time. but not just one story... they need two stories.

and then they were finally in bed.

so shortly after 8pm... we were able to start the game.

um, yeah... the cable company decided not to play the texas game advertised on the guide...but the fucking astros game instead. so we missed the entire first half. but found the game for the second half.

but, oh wait... first we have to feed the adults.

so around 8:30....we start to watch the game...which was a blow-out by then.... so who really cared?

and i love kristen... and it was so nice of her to open her home to me. and i appreciate everything she offered and everything she gave.

but, um, yeah.... me, children and football. it don't mix.

oil and water, baby. oil and water.

in conclusion
it's been a long, crazy journey..... this past september will go down as one of the worst in recent memory. the storm was frightening. the fifteen days were trying.

and trying to get work back up and running, handling the weeks' worth of appointments missed and needing to be rescheduled....

september was a bad month.

but i look ahead to october and the rest of this year and i see some nice weather. some good plans with friends.... a trip to san francisco.

and more blogging. to paraphrase my best friends wedding: "maybe there won't be (gay) marriage... maybe there won't be sex... but, by god, there will be blogging."

and hopefully sex... but that's a different entry.

e.

Notes From All Over: M.I.A. Edition

oh, my lovelies... you have no idea what fresh hell i've experienced the past couple of weeks. please forgive my absence but work has dragged me down into a level of hell that not even dante could have imagined.

i realize i've been missing in action so i present to you a quick recap of the past couple of weeks from all angles.

work
it has been beyond busy, beyond terrible. for two straight weeks i was basically working ten hour days. i was unable to break free for lunch i was unable to do any of my work. i was focused on the digital upgrade my program made and it has not been fun.

i have finally passed a good portion of the digital responsibility on to other people and this past week i've been able to focus on projects that i need to do. but i've also had meeting after meeting, i've had to tour other facilities, i've had to find a new front desk person, i'm dealing with a 20 year old A/C unit that is about to go out on me..... not to mention every other little fire that's been coming up and the still straggling questions and pesterings about the digital upgrade.

and all the whining and bitching that goes along with it.

in short.... i hate my job.

but hey! what's new, right?

family
is it sad that i just put family after work? and that friends will come after that?

oy.

the baby is home and doing well. apparently she thinks the days are for sleeping and the nights are for raising cain (which reminds me of my days as a waiter), but she's healthy and parents are doing well. if not just exhausted beyond all belief.

but you know... who told them to go off and have a baby?

i may make a trip over there in september to see the little rugrat (for those of you pushing the issue).

looks like my parents will be coming down in august to see the baby and to see my play in the 10x10. they're good parents. they really are. i'm fortunate.

friends
i haven't had much of chance to see them but last weekend we did throw a white trash theme party for my friend steven. he went into detail about the party on his blog (stevensvox.blogspot.com) so i won't bore you with too many additional details.

let me just put one thing in the public record: i was MORTIFIED when i had to purchase strawberry cake mix with strawberry icing along with two boxes of double cheeseburger hamburger helper.

i've not been able to take enough showers to wash off the dirtiness i feel.

but steven is worth it.

the lesbians really went all out with their tuna surprise, their giant dingdong and their outfits. it was hilarious...

and - believe it or not - a great time was had by all (i believe).

the dark knight
saw it. loved it. ledger is brilliant in it. watching him i felt the way audiences must've felt when they first saw brando in streetcar. just something wholly original and fresh (and frightening).

see it.

brideshead revisited
i finished reading evelyn waugh's novel yesterday and i simply devoured it. beyond the initial shock at just how fucking gay the book really is.... it was a fascinating blend of sensuality, family drama, religion and politics. it's the first book by waugh i've read and i'm very interested in reading more by him.

if you haven't read brideshead, i highly recommend it.

politics
what a bizarre couple of weeks in politics. obama becomes the new david hasslehoff in germany and mccain puts him in an ad with britney spears and paris hilton.

some thoughts.....

i thought the trip through europe could have some downfalls. we can all agree that obama has an ego. but hell, you better have an ego if you're running for the ruler of the free world. i'm sure mccain has an ego to boot. he's just not eloquent enough for us to see it.

but comparing obama to britney and paris is just silly politics. they're vacuous airheads and i don't think anyone can accuse obama of that. but i understand the message mccain is trying to make. obama is a celebrity but he's as empty as these two.

for the record: i don't see any parallel between the blatant "protect your white daughters" message in the 2006 harold ford commercials. but it's all still pretty ridiculous.

what concerns me more is this new mccain ad titled "the one." and all week we've been hearing words like "arrogant" and "fussy" and "ego" and it boils down to a very disturbing message on behalf of the republicans and the mccain camp.

please forgive me for putting this in print....and i hate the word i'm about to type.... but they're basically saying: "look at the uppity nigger. don't he know his place?"

it's the same tactic used against hillary. "that bitch. doesn't she know the proper place for a little lady?"

the GOP has a record of running these divisive sexist and racist campaigns. they can't beat obama on substance so they're driving home the message to blue collar whites that this black man may be a little too big for his britches.

it's disturbing. and i finally heard david gergen bring it up on this week this morning. and it's a particularly clear message to racist, southern voters.....

it's the worst kind of politics but it's the politics of rove and bush and mccain is now using those same tactics. they don't win on the issues... they win on bringing the other candidate down.

and worst of all... it seems to be working.

instead of a huge bounce coming out of his tour of the middle east and europe... obama has actually slid in the polls since mccain has come out with these ads. the latest gallop has them tied, i believe.

i hope the media is smart enough to attack this issue and not pussy-foot their way around it because everyone is so afraid of talking about race.

i hate to break the news to you, kiddos, but race is a factor. it's the big-ass elephant in the room and we need to talk about it.

we need to discuss the positives. and we need to discuss the negatives.

we need to be grown-ups in this process. not break out ads with paris hilton and charlton heston.

silly and childish. is this "straight talk"?

shame on you, john mccain. didn't you promise everyone better than that?

god, this is probably a very long, rambling entry without a lot of insight or good things. and it suddenly made me kinda cranky.

i'll add an update to my veepstakes here in a bit and cheer myself up.

that's getting good.

have a great week, everyone. (i promise to be better.)

e.

p.s. the play is going really well and i think i'll be very pleased with my 10x10 this year. actually, rehearsals have been the bright spots during the past couple of weeks.

also.... i'm in the current issue of outsmart (in the news briefs). i look nice and plump... but hey, i'm smiling. you can find it in print or online at outsmartmagazine.com.

9 Fabulous Hours

when was the last time you talked for nine hours with someone and never once experienced a lull in the conversation...?

yesterday i wandered over to have brunch with my good friend sister epiphenita of the sacred sarcasm. i arrived around 10:30am. nine hours later...at 7:30pm.... i headed home.

e2 (as she calls herself with me as i'm e.) and i often claim we are cut from the same cloth. i can only hope that one day i possess a quarter of the vocabulary and wit this amazing woman has to offer.

we spoke with no one else... we never once felt the need to turn on the television or the radio... we talked.

our conversation ranged from reflective moments pulled out of our darker pasts....to whimsical memories of our parents, her children and our friends. we discussed politics: hillary's future and obama's pitfalls. we seemed to cover every subject... even whether or not it's true what they say about black men. (for the record: it's mostly true...from my experience. but sometimes... disappointingly untrue.)

we talked about books and authors... mary gaitskill to michael chabon. dorothy parker to our own forays into writing.

we discussed film and art and new york and the midwest... and my past and her past and our hang-ups and weaknesses and phobias (of which mine are frightfully abundant, we decided). but we also talked about how....beneath our shared cynicism and misanthropic tendencies...we do share moments of hope and joy.

we understand the disappointment in the world around us and yes, VISHNU YES! do we judge... but we also enjoy the ironies of life. and we laugh at ourselves (and others) and generally have a joyous time together.

my emotional gauge has been inching up and slipping down as of late. my writing has become oddly personal over the past several months.... and i've had the opportunity to really examine myself and my walls and my fears and my weaknesses. i think by writing about these things i've been able to open up more about them.

i was surprised at the candor of our conversation yesterday... but e2 and i left no emotional stone unturned. it was almost an anthropological dig into our psyches. and it was one of the best days i've had in some time.

so thank you, e2. we must do it again sometime.

e.