I downloaded a bunch of pictures from my camera and was pleasantly surprised to find a few more shots from the last winter storm. Including this jaunty fellow contentedly watching the world go by from a park bench. Although judging by the way the sun is bearing down on him, his world-view seemed about to get quite a bit more fluid. After the last four or five days of sunny and unseasonably warm weather we've enjoyed here in NYC, it already seems strange that this was only a couple of weeks ago.

OOOOOOoooooo!

America's Best Dance Crew judge Shane (Y'awl) Sparks (Y'awl) was arrested Friday night and charged with felony molestation dating back to the mid-to-late 1990's.

It seems that Melvin (HaHaHaHaHa!) has been accused of multiple counts of committing lewd acts with a child (reportedly a girl under 14) as well as two counts of oral copulation with a person under the age of 16 by someone over 21.

In other words, he's a tiny, barely literate perv.

In Other News ...

The snow has started this afternoon here in NYC and it's freakin' cold! Including inside the apartment. Since all the news outlets are calling for up to a foot of snow and near blizzard conditions, the event I was supposed to finish out the week with has been canceled. I guess I'll just stay in, play video games, clean out my email and inappropriately touch myself.

Someone's Fired And It Isn't Me!

They shit-canned the CFO today at the restaurant. Which is fine because he was a bit of a dick. He didn't want to count money. Seriously. I mean, it seems to me the money guy would want to count it but not this one. Numbers people are inherently wierd, but he was especially prickly. And he made me look bad the first week of paychecks being issued by arbitrarily leaving people off the payroll when I know I filed their paperwork properly. I'm obsessive/compulsive, I do things the right way. I can't stop myself. I had a stomach ache after that day because I felt like people thought I let them down. We're still playing catch-up on people's pay two weeks later. And I've taken on all of the responsibility for payroll and tip disbursement, as well as some of the work on the private events as far as staffing and the day to day running. We have a private events manager, but I have zero confidence in her when it comes to staffing, payroll or anything that calls for an attention to detail for that matter. And I hear from reliable sources that she makes a shit load of money for doing an all around crappy job. Perhaps it's time to give myself additional responsibilities at an appropriate pay raise.

I had a whole bunch of fucked up dreams the last couple of nights. In one, one of my aunts died. That was no fun. In another, I got drunk and threw up all over my pillows, which I kept trying to hide from a gentleman caller I was trying to entice into my bed. So you know it was a dream as I have no sex life these days. What I do have is reality, and 10 whole weeks of sobriety under my belt.

The monsoon has subsided, although it rained off and on today. They're calling for sun and 60's by the weekend. I bet it's one of those years where we go directly from winter into summer and skip the spring entirely.

It's A Monsoon.

But first, The Food Network needs an awards show? Really? I just tuned in and the first presenters were Rachael Ray and Giada de Laurentiis. Together. I hope the stage was appropriately reinforced to sustain their disturbingly over-sized heads.

Anyway, I got home late last night (or early this morning) and the predicted storm had already begun. My feet hurt, I had a tension headache from dealing with computer problems and all manner of Saturday night snafus. The dog could have used a walk, but I just couldn't make it back down the stairs. I made him wait. I know, I'm a bad daddy. I fell asleep almost immediately. I was dozing when the phone rang. It was nearly noon and I answered because I had told the other managers I would take their calls by then. Turns out, it wasn't a manager but one of the waiters. He was calling me at home, waking me out of bed, to tell me that he overslept for work. I pointedly suggested he call work, where I wasn't, instead of my home, where I was. Sleeping. I don't think he got the subtlety.

It's like they think I sit in a box somewhere until I come back in.

In any case, it rained all afternoon. It stopped off and on this evening, but really started to pour again around 10 pm. We had thunder and lightning as well. I stayed home for most of the day, but braved the monsoon when I decided to grab a tan. Vanity knows no weather. I also went down to the East Village in search of a Gay-A meeting that I suspect no longer meets. But after a really stressful weekend I was determined to get to a meeting. It would be my first one in nearly three weeks. I ended up going across town to the GLBT center and took in a meeting there. I dozed off for part of it but it was still very helpful. I'll look for a morning meeting before I go to bed, as I'm turning in early. I was going to go in for a few hours today to get ahead on some work, but between the weather and my own mental health, I decided to skip it. The work will still be there tomorrow.

She's Frigid

• The storm blew in to town last night. Because it was a classic Nor'easter, the wind was blowing directly on the front of the apartment building. Turning the living room and my bedroom into an icebox. Three heavy blankets let me sleep through the night. This morning, while checking e-mail, I could see my breath. I turned on the oven to help heat the house. By the way, the correct temperature to warm a house is 400 degrees for 20 minutes. The wind finally shifted this afternoon, and the apartment steam heat took over fine. It's around 17 degrees outside as I write this, and the wind is gusting like mad, but because it's coming from the north directly, we're all toasty here.

• Because I knew the storm was on the way, I decided to get my chores done beforehand, so I wouldn't be stuck having to do them while trapped inside. So I did the laundry and mopped the floors. Of course, after the snow I myself tracked salty dirty snow throughout the house, so the floors were clean for exactly one day. Ah well, at least I did it. Which meant today I could concentrate on other things. I printed some photos that I've been meaning to get to. I sepia toned a shot of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, so even though I took it in 2004, it looks like a vintage boardwalk shot. Until you notice the word TRUMP on one of the buildings in the background. I framed it anyway and added it to the kitchen collection. I scanned some comics that should go up for auction on Saturday. If you're a fan of DC's Deathstroke the Terminator watch for it, I'm selling off my entire series starting from the 1st collector's issue.

• I had planned on going to two Gay-A meetings tonight, but the forecast said that the wind may gust to 50mph and it was going to be freakin' freezin'. The meetings were all the way across town on 9th Ave. So instead I managed to pop in to a meeting on E. 12 st. at 5:30, and got it done before the temp dropped off. Not that I'm not still getting into it. Regardless of what happens, I always feel better and a little more grounded after it's over. But I see no reason to freeze my nuts off while I'm at it.

• From The Department of who cares: I finally decided to try buying and cooking some tilapia that was on sale at the market. I'd heard it was a very tasty if not common fish to try. I used this recipe but added a bed of angel hair pasta in garlic, butter, scallions and olive oil. Considering the fish cost $1.53, oh my goddess it was good. Took me all of 15 minutes to make. Try it yourself. But I can't for the life of me figure out how another market I go to is charging almost $7.00 for the same size fillet.

• And finally, I edited a bunch of pictures from an impromptu photo shoot I did the other day using myself as the model. Luckily, it's HNT anyway, so here ya go ...

I'll Be There For You ...

Now here's an unexpected developement. I got an e-mail invitation to a wedding. Neo's getting married. To a man. In London. I want to go. And have him mistakenly use my name during the vows. Then we'll get drunk in Vegas and get married. Even though I'm on the record as saying gay marriage is silly.

I was going to pop out to the gym despite the cold. But I just got back from the dog run and even with gloves on I couldn't feel my fingers when I got back. So fuck that, I'll just get liquored up and touch my naughty parts.

'Atta girl ...

Later .... I put up some pretty cool comics for sale on EBay. Check back.

Let it Snow, Let it, ah.....fuck it.

I'll stay off the "sex life of a blogger" bandwagon for now (although I do have one and it's half written already). I'll tell you this story instead.

Of course, because I have plans to go to Neo's surprise party yesterday, it snows. A genuine snowstorm, and this from a boy what grow'd up in Buffalo. It started around 6:30 ish just as I was heading to the store to pick up Neo's gift. His player got fragged by the electronic poltergeist Neo is plagued with. He's complained on more than one occasion about not being able to watch his favorite DVD's but he's been covering a lot of other expenses of late and just didn't get around to replacing it. So a casual, "Oh, by the way have you replaced your DVD player yet?" And I knew that's what I needed to get him. Anyway, the snow began with enourmous, white fluffy flakes. They were so big you could actually hear them plop on to the pavement when they landed. It was quite beautiful as they were swirling down from the sky. Twenty minutes later as I'm returning home it had changed. The fluffy flakes became wind whipped painful little ice pellets that hit you in the face tearing tiny bits of your flesh away. I made my way to the grocery store, and another twenty minutes later it had changed again. Back to snow but normal sized now and piling up fast. By the time I arrived back home I was no longer sure if there would even be a party or if Neo could get in from Jerzee. I sent him a text casually inquiring if his "dinner plans" with P--- were still on. I got a one word reply "yes". So, I dutifully wrapped up the gift and began my crosstown trudge. I had plenty of $$$ for a taxi but trudging is more fun and it's where I snapped this cool picture:



I made it across town after a stop at my gym to grab a hot shower (The water pressure in my bathroom shower is so bad this winter, the water just sort of bubbles out of the shower head and runs down the wall. It produces a grotto effect which, if not for the possibility of extreme water damage to the downstairs apartments, I would leave running at all times. If you do manage to get some water out of the head, it's annoying. Like taking a shower while someone's constantly spitting on you.) and snap a few pics. The "restaurant" where we had the party was quite interesting. It was called the Greenroom on 6th/26th. The place is filled with plants. Enourmous plants. Everywhere One whole side of the place is walkways like an indoor botanical garden and you can walk around and look at the plants and the pots and the big fountain. It's actually quite pretty. Here's a couple of shots.





Unfortunately, because the storm was still stormin the turnout was quite scarce. Mostly the hardcore for real friends and family of Neo's plus a couple of geeks and wierdos that he has a tendency to collect all the time. We had our own little area and a waitress and a way cute bartender that would repeatedly and quickly lift up his shirt to show you his abs every single time he was asked. They had some chicken wings (not on my diet) pannini of various sorts (not on my diet) ziti in a cream/tomato sauce (I don't think so) and chicken and pepper skewers in a mustard dipping sauce (success!). I had thirty. (I'm lying) I had 5 very weak vodka/sodas and I wasn't the least bit buzzed. Gifts were opened and the most gorgeous birthday cake I ever did see was cut and ate (no, I didn't). We all finally agreed it was time to go. The kids decided they wanted to head down to Pieces as Tuesday is kareoke night. I thought why the hell not? I wasn't looking for anything but what the hey, if one of those Pieces college age cuties said pretty please, can I suck you off would I say no? No. Alas, we just all sorta hung out and listened to some bad kareoke. I insisted I would participate but only if we all did it and only if they could find "Natural Woman". It is the only song I will kareoke to. About 1:30 ish (maybe 2) I started to feel all pumpkin like, so I made my way over towards the front door. With a quick check so as to be sure I had no witnesses "poof" I was gone in a puff of smoke. At one point, as four of us were riding to Pieces through the village, Neo got a phone call. Obviously a friend, obviously asking about the party. " I got a DVD player." I am smug. I am self-satisfied.