Last night, I went to Bridge Lounge for an office party/fund raiser for NO/AIDS. At this party, I had the privelege to meet an absolutley wonderful couple. They are in their seventies and will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in two months. The two of them are absolutley amazing. They are so full of life and still see the world as a place that is at once frightening and yet filled with endless possibility.

The thing about that truly amazes and touches me is the fact that they lost both of their sons to HIV/AIDS. In the two hours that we talked, they recounted how difficult that period in their life was. They went on to explain to me how NO/AIDS is actually one of the things that helped them get through that period. And it wasn't the actual support they received from the agency, but rather the people they met and how they found themselves part of a wonderful community of caring people who were out to make a difference.

To say the least, I was blown away. I don't think I had totally realized the full impact of the work that I am doing. It made me feel so good to know that the work I do can be so powerful.

 
Let's just say that decadence was at once both enjoyable and irritating and leave it at that.

Of course, after my extended weekend of debauchery, I am now instantly thrown hurled back into work. There's only two weeks left until the NO/AIDS walk, so I will probably suffer a breakdown sometime before that. Or at least pull out the majority of my hair. See you in two weeks.

 
I just love the fact that while the Archdiocese of New Orleans and a certain Reverend seems to be hellbent on putting an end to Decadence, there is a letter from the mayor in Ambush welcoming everyone to the city.

 
Believe it or not, I am still alive. I'm just overworked (self-imposed) and going a bit crazy. And to top things off, the car died. It was going to happen sooner or later so now I guess was as good of a time as any. Of course, now I have to buy an new car with money I don't have.

Needless to say, this blogging "hiatus" will probably last a bit longer.

 
What I Learned On My Summer Vacation

1. Farm raised and corn fed makes for some very hot boys.

2. There is an Osama bin Laden condom. (Why it exists, I can't explain.)

3. There is actually a musical genre combining christian music and barbarshop quartets.

4. This musical genre seems to be quite popular on Northern Alabama radio.

5. When advertising a large flea market with many shops, it is wiser to pluralize the word market than the word flea.

 
Last night I got to experience a little of Columbus gay nightlife. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. We went to Wall Street, which seemed to be the place to be last night. All I can say, is that they raise em right up here. Them farm boys is hot.

In other news, I tried to go to the Wexner, but unfortunately, it was closed for remodeling. So instead, I went to the Urban Outfitters across the street and took advantage of their current sale.

Not much else exciting has happened. I've seen so many apartments, I could scream. And the agents who show them to us just keep getting worse and worse. One girl actually said, upon us telling her our zip code was 70001, "Now that's a zip code! How'd you get such a great zip code?" It was an example of when perkiness goes bad.

 
After 15 straight hours in a car (and a brief monsoon in Kentucky), I am alive and well in Columbus, Ohio. Tomorrow brings apartment hunting with a friend (for her, not me) and hopefullya trip to the Wexner Center. Other than that, I am just looking forward to the fact that I am off of work for five days. It's a much needed break.

 
In all of an hour, I embark on my journey to Columbus, Ohio. Wish me luck. I'm sure I'll need it

 
Much of the previous 72 hours has been an expeience that I don't feel comfortable blogging about.

However, I came to discover that karmic retribution can be a good thing. Yesterday I was offered a position, albeit temporary, with the NO/AIDS Task Force doing member coordination for the upcoming NO/AIDS Walk.

And by the way, Thursday is Dining For Life. You go out to eat, and it helps raise money. What could be easier?

 
I just found something interesting on Michelle's site and it irritated me so much that I thought I would go on my rant over here rather than take up space in her comments. Apparently, MTV has decided to ban the new Foo Fighters video Low. Their claim is that there are two scenes which are "too risque." Apparently, Dave Grohl and Jack Black dress up in women's clothes in one scene, and lay on the floor and tangle their legs together in another, implying sex. And there is also spanking.

I'm rather lost on why they would ban this video. The issue of dressing up in drag, or scantily clad, for that matter, seems pointless. Foo Fighters have already done this before in their Learn to Fly video. Also, we see a man dressing in drag in Christina Aguilera's video Beautiful. Not to mention that they repeatedly have had members of Real World and Road Rules often perform this as a challenge, or as part of their jobs. In fact, when MTV came to New Orleans for Mardi Gras one year, they had a contest where they selected one guy and one girl to dress in drag. As for the spanking issue, Madonna did it years ago (like 1992) in her video Erotic where she spanks the writhing bodies with a riding crop. And please don't get me started on something on MTV being to risque. There's Britney in her infamous stripper outfit at the VMA's, Christina in a thong in Dirty, numerous videos which do nothing but glorify the ass, and how many times have we seen the folks on Real World and Road Rules getting naked and hooking up. Some how seven hot twenty-somethings naked, drunk, and writhing in a hot tub (somehow this seems to be in every apartment, wonder why?), is not risque, but Dave Grohl and Jack Black spanking one another is.

What really confuses me though is why they have chosen to ban the video outright. In the past, they will often either ask the artisit to edit the video (i.e. Mystikal changing Shake That Ass to Shake It Fast) or they will just relegate the video to late night rotation (Cher's Turn Back Time or Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up). I am curious if their choice to ban the video is the air in which all of the questionable scenes are presented. If it's Jack Black and Dave Grohl, then all of the scenes are obviously done in jest. Maybe the network feels that homosexuality shouldn't be mocked and that is why they have chosen to ban it. Of course if that were the case, Tom Green would have to be off the air, as would a host of their other shows.

Or then again, maybe it's all a grand scheme for the Foo Fighters to be able to sell their DVD of Low, which is set to be released next week. Funny how a video being banned tends to boost the sales of such things.

 
Infallible Truth #603

Anyone who has their name printed on their truck in Old English letters, inevitably has the same tattoo somewhere on their body.

 
Now here's a real enticing want-ad, found under the vague heading of "Professional"

BORED PROFESSIONALS & SKILLED WORKERS. Ever consider joining an ecovillage with spiritual emphasis & helping to change the world?

Since when is joining a cult considered a career change?