The GB:NY4 barbecue/party was fabulous!

The turnout was a little lighter than we expected, but the quality of the company made up for it! We were joined by Mark & Brian and their friend Steven (a nice guy and a hottie!), Byrne, Deidre, Patrick, Jase and his lovely boyfriend Brian (good catch there, Jase!), our new friend David, and our old friends Patrick & Greg.

We had a wonderful time. I grilled burgers and hot dogs, and Marc made brisket, cole slaw, guacamole & chips and brownies with whipped cream for dessert. We had another appetizer--Marc made it, but it was an invention of mine, a dip made of corn salsa and sour cream.

Better than the food was the fabulous conversation. We had a wonderful time!

Thanks to everyone who came. You made the day special!

(Yes, there are some photos, but I'm too tired to mess with that now. I'll save those for another day.) :)

More from Marie's Crisis

My cheeks hurt from laughing. Between Deidre re-writing "I Could Have Danced All Night" to include a lewd line to Byrne telling us that another song's lyrics are "A spoon full of roofies helps the medicine go down," I haven't stopped laughing.

And a room packed with about 100 gay boys singing "All That Jazz" is not to be missed!

A Night Out with Bloggers & Other Friends

I'm typing this post on my phone, as I sit in a corner of Marie's Crisis, a cozy (a/k/a divey old basement) piano bar. It's a fun place, and the company couldn't be better (Marc, Mark, Brian, Byrne, Deidre, Patrick--recovering nicely, I'm thrilled to see--Scott and others from our merry/Mary band).

The pianist just finished a set of numbers from Cabaret and then launched into a song that gave Deidre flashbacks to college. :-)

The place is packed, Marc's right next to me singing his heart out, and this is a good night! A great GB:NY4 event!

Some words of wisdom

Lacking much to say, I'll share some fun and/or interesting quotes (with thanks to the people at the Quotations Page):

"Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing." -Redd Foxx

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." -Mark Twain (also Dodger)

"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred." -Woody Allen

"On my income tax 1040 it says 'Check this box if you are blind.' I wanted to put a check mark about three inches away." -Tom Lehrer

"Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together...." -Carl Zwanzig

"In Hollywood a marriage is a success if it outlasts milk." -Rita Rudner

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." -A. A. Milne

"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there." -George Burns

"We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." -Will Rogers

"It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one of them to scatter it all over the highway." -Evan Esar

"The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question." -Stephen Jay Gould

"The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents." -Nathaniel Borenstein

"I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top." -An English Professor

"New York now leads the world's great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn't make a sudden move." -David Letterman

"No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather." -Michael Pritchard

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch." -Orson Welles

"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done." -Peter Ustinov

"Everyone has a purpose in life. Perhaps yours is watching television." -David Letterman

"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function." -Unknown

"Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot." -Ellen DeGeneres

A meme in reverse

I got this from Deidre. It's a neat idea...

The way this works is a little different: Leave your answers in the comments. If you want me to reciprocate, post the questions on your blog.

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favourite Movie:
5. Favourite Song or Album:
6. Favourite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of the online world?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favorite memory of us?
14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the "world peace," etc., malarky) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent:
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
28. Will you repost this so i can fill it out for you?

GB:NY4 weekend

This will be a big weekend! It's the fourth installment of the gay bloggers' New York gathering.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone from the GB gang (at least everyone who can make it), and we're once again hosting a barbecue as part of the festivities.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we'll be hosting an afternoon barbecue here at the house. We'll be ready with drinks (we know our friends!) and plenty of good food. You can always count on Marc for good food!

I hope lots of the usual suspects make it out for the fun!

For details on the entire weekend, see Mark/Zeitzeuge's blog entry here.

Gay kids deserve a prom, too!

We're big supporters of LIGALY, Long Island Gay & Lesbian Youth. They run a center for gay youth and host a variety of events, as well as going into the schools to run educational programs.

Every year, they have a prom for gay kids. They only charge the kids $20. The rest is covered by fundraising. To rent a catering hall, hire a band, etc., costs about $80 more per person.

Marc and I sponsored a table, and we want to encourage everyone who can to join us. You can sponsor one or more kids for the prom by going here. (It's even tax-deductible.)

I remember skipping my High School prom. I was even asked by a girl if I wanted to go (yeah, I was once worth asking out!), but I declined. What was the point? She was nice enough, but I knew what got me going. Isn't it nice that times have changed enough to have a gay prom? I think it's terrific!

So please go here and join us in helping some gay boys and girls go to a prom where they can be themselves and safely have fun! Thank you!

2007 Long Island Rugby Tournament

These photos are from this Saturday. The first one is of our beloved team paramedic, Shelly. She was taking a break. Upon my suggesting a photo, she mentioned my talent for always catching her at her best (she really is very nice and was just having fun)...




Trying to block a kick and not get smashed in the face


















A spectator

The full set of photos is here.

Three cheers for... I beg your pardon?

Today was the Long Island Rugby Tournament. Our team, the Gotham Knights, participated in the tournament, and we went to watch. I, as usual, was there as the team photographer.

I'll post photos once I've gone through them and edited as needed. In the meantime, the nicest thing happened today, and I wanted to share.

After each match, the team will do cheers. One of the guys will lead three cheers for the ref, three cheers for the other team and three cheers for Gotham.

While I was standing there after today's last match, they were doing their cheers, and then it happened. The guy leading the cheers looked right at me and, with that,

Three cheers for our photographer!
Hip, hip, hooray!
Hip, hip, hooray!
Hip, hip, hooray!

I've been shooting photos for the team for a few years now, but this is a first. I was so honored!

Interesting what they didn't say

As I type this, I'm watching New York's Channel 11 News. I'd call it the "CW11 News at 10," as they do, but they might change it again before you read this (it used to be WB11, and before that it was just WPIX, but that's not the point of this post). Anyhow, they did a story about a hit-and-run in Manhattan. The victim is a wealthy man named Steven Green who is scheduled to begin a prison sentence shortly for fraud, or so I understand.

So they were reporting this story and said he was coming from an "upscale bar." Then they showed Posh. Posh? It's okay, but I don't know that I'd call it upscale.

What I would call it--and, interestingly, what they didn't say--is GAY! I guess there was no need to say that. The poor man certainly seems to have enough problems at the moment and doesn't need to be outed if he is in the closet, but it's interesting how times have changed. In years past, I'd have expected them to jump right on something so juicy.

So things have changed. Well, either that or they've been hanging out with alexis who just thinks there's an imbalance of men and women in this particular bar. :)

I have to say it...

I usually leave American Idol posts to my other half, but I can't stay silent tonight. The only remaining male contestant, Blake Lewis, sang You Should Be Dancing. As I listened, I heard him sing, "my baby takes me higher, my baby keeps me warm."

I beg your pardon? Those aren't the lyrics. I know that song. The lyrics are, "my woman takes me higher, my woman keeps me warm."

Did someone just subtly out himself on national television? If a woman sang it and changed the lyrics, that might make some sense (in a straight view of the world), but I can think of only one explanation for a guy changing "woman" to "baby," especially since some people were already speculating about his sexuality.

Now the question is whether his "best friend" Chris Richardson is more than a friend. Watching them hug as Chris was voted off last week, I thought I saw them get too close for friends, but then I shrugged that off. I always want hot boys to kiss, so maybe it was just my imagination. Now I'm thinking they may really be a couple. If so, how about a sex video, boys? Cute couple! ;)

Wouldn't it be great if they came out as a couple and started recording albums together? I'd buy their albums. In fact, I'd buy multiple copies, just to support the high-profile gay boys! (I'm getting ahead of myself, right?) :)

Anyhow, don't be subtle, Blake! When they vote you off (because you do know you're not going to win, right?), come out on national television! Say it! (And if Chris is ready to declare his love at the same time, that would be a home run!)


The happy couple??

Update: Well, he's not going to win (Melinda's clearly the best of the bunch--not that that always matters on this show), but Blake's going to be around for at least one more week. Interesting how this is playing out. I guess LaKisha's "I just don't feel like trying so hard anymore" attitude came across to too many people. Anyhow, Blake, we can wait for your coming out. ;)

Yes, it was a rugby weekend!

In addition to photographing this weekend's matches, I also took team photos and some headshots for the team's website. Here are a few, but feel free to look at the full set, since there are some really nice ones there (link at the end of this post):


The blue squad--at least I think it's blue. I always forget which group is blue and which is gold.


The gold squad--unless the other one was the gold squad, in which case this is blue. :)


Hard to look at, isn't he?


And how about this for cute?!


One of the guys on the opposing team.



























There are lots more where those came from. They're here.

Take a look at the full set. The photos have been getting rave reviews!

Okay, so only Dodger has looked at them, but he wagged when he looked at the screen. Plus, I think it's a great set of photos. :)

By popular demand...

In my last post, I planned on just talking about the trees planted in memory of my Mom. So that's what I did, but my beloved commenters asked me to take a picture.

So I came home tonight and took one. The sun was on the other side of the house, so I had to use the flash. I didn't want to wait until morning, because the tree's already past peak. It's losing blooms all the time. So I went out this evening and did my best. Here it is...



Now I may have to do annual update photos, as it grows bigger and bigger (it's just a baby tree now). :)

A photo wouldn't do any justice

When my Mom died three years ago, a friend gave us a gift certificate for a nursery. She said it was so we could plant something in my Mom's memory. So we bought and planted something we thought she would have liked--a Kwanzan Cherry tree. We held off on planting it until we had the house and property redone. Last year, it was too new to really bloom, but not this year. It's covered in beautiful pink flowers, and it's a gorgeous tribute to a gorgeous, wonderful person.

But there's not one Kwanzan Cherry. There are two. A second tree went into the ground last year. My Mom ran community services at our town's public library. They've had annual concerts in her memory every year since she died. They hold them in October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, because that's what killed her (the cancer, not the month). This past year, the concert was preceded by the dedication of a Kwanzan Cherry tree right out in front of the library where everyone can see it. The plaque has lovely words in her honor, but the tree (and the one here) really is what gives me the warmest feeling. She was the most wonderful woman I've ever known, and it's only fitting that there are living, beautiful things in her honor.