Meanwhile ...

I meant to write about the 96 year old photographer and artist who is resisting a buyout from the Carnegie Corporation, although her reps did float a $10 million figure back in October, she now claims she absolutely will not accept their offer to relocate to a similar or superior apartment at their expense. As she tells the NY Post: "They'll have to drag me out. They'll have to use their bare hands." And so the Corporation has decided to force the issue and arranged for the state to issue eviction notices to the remaining rent-controlled tenants.

Here's what I'm thinking. She's 96 years old. Can't they... you know ... wait?

Johnny Hazzard Stuffs It In

Hot as fuck porn actor and all around Renaissance fag Johnny Hazzard makes a YouTube vid with a simple kitchen recipe for dried figs. I actually think he does a great job for what it is, but quite frankly, if he showed up at my house with a lame-ass gift like a jar of stuffed figs I would immediatelty thank him sweetly while calculating the distance between him and the garbage can. Then I would totally blow him.

Coming Attractions

From The Ashes will be getting a site re-design. Hopefully right at the New Year or very soon after. I have most of it planned out in my head, hopefully translating it to the web page won't take too long. My design skills are largely self taught.

Look for a whole new direction for your fearless hero and the story so far, as I finally clear up all the cryptic clues I've been dropping. Two new roommates are moving in to my Castle High Atop Second Avenue, and I expect that will shake things up around here as well.

I will continue posting through the site re-design, and will try to come up with a year end wrap-up for you in the next few days. Although I'm notoriously bad at that kind of writing, all the cool kids do it.

Merry Christmas From Gov. Paterson

The proposed New York State budget for 2009 includes this bit of fuck you. A $65 million cut in state funding to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

ADAP pays for anti-HIV drugs and some services for people who may be employed, do not qualify for Medicaid, and are unable to afford private health insurance.

Like ... I don't know ... me.

read more.

God Bless Us, Everyone

No. I haven't gone all religious in my old age, it's just a phrase that pops in to my head repeatedly during the holidays. I found myself too cash poor to afford tickets for myself and Riley to go see the family, so we'll be spending Christmas just the two of us here in New York City.

I'll have an apartment full of people after this weekend as both of my new roommates will be moving in. I've spent the last week going through every storage space and closet throwing out anything useless or broken that I've been "meaning to" fix or use. If it hasn't happened yet, chances are it never will and I'm just getting rid of it.

I just finished a late breakfast of green eggs & ham, after which we opened gifts. One of us got new cookware and the other got a huge bone. Had I been on the receiving end of the huge bone it would have been a much better day, but life's not fair like that.

I'll be putting the finishing touches on today getting the apartment ready for the new arrivals. If there's time, Riley will be getting a bath as well. Tonight I'll more than likely take in a movie. Not too exciting, and I certainly wish I could have gone to Buffalo to hang with the fam, but it will do.

Merry Chimp-mas

A chimp and a chump make popcorn for Christmas and the chimp freaks the flock out. Pretty funnee! -via Gizmodo

Cocktease

So this morning I wake up and check my email and what do I find?

Hey sexy,
@ what time u want to meet @ the gym?
What muscles will we be working on, beside our tonges & dicks?
hit me back when u get this...
Ray
Sent from my iPhone

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone named Ray.
So. Not. Funny.

Go Figure

Got an e-mail last week from the graphic artist that does a lot of the work for SIN NYC. He wanted to know if I could send any pictures of Anne Chilada that I had taken during the Holiday party I told you about. The lovely and talented dragstress will be entertaining this January during the monthly UB2 Bar Night that has found a new home upstairs at the venerable Stonewall Inn over in the West Village. Of course I was thrilled to be asked and sent along three different images that I thought might be suitable. I didn't say it, but I had a feeling that one of the photos would translate well. And wouldn't you know it, this weekend I got a copy of the flyer that was put out to promote the party:



I don't usually make it to the bar night as it involves two things I'm not very good at, drinking (well, I'm good at that but, well ... you know) and talking to people I barely know. But I happened to be (actually) talking to people at the SIN Sunday Brunch I went to a couple of months ago, and it turns out, quite a few people go to the bar night that don't drink at all. Most people, especially alcoholics, assume that everyone drinks like they do. It's not until you actually stop drinking you find out that's not at all true.

If you embiggen the flyer and scroll down to the bottom, what do we have there but the often requested, highly coveted (by me) photo credit. Don't take much to make me happy.

I Feel Better Already

I like the sun. I like light. I am always raising the shades and trying to brighten whatever room I'm in. The only time I don't is when I'm depressed or in a truly bad mood and just want to sulk. Then I light some candles and play some music and fart around on the internet until I feel better or the day ends and I can go back to bed. Fortunately, these days, those days are few and far between.

Nothing puts me in a better mood than a bright blue sky on a warm and breezy afternoon. I will cross the street just to walk on the sunny side.

Today is the winter solstice, which means it is the shortest day of the year. The least amount of daylight. That should make me sad, but in reality it means that the worst is over for another year. And now every day we gain just a little bit more daylight. Imperceptible at first, but suddenly one day in late January you will notice that it's 5:30 and still not dark yet. And spring is just around the corner. As are bright blue skies and warm breezes.

Nowhere to go but up now.

Time To Purge

I'm relieved to report I finally found not one, but two suitable roommates. I've also made myself a minority in my own home, as I will be living with heterosexuals. Which, quite frankly I don't really mind at all. Some of my worst roommate situations and relationships have been with gay men. That's not meant to be a blanket criticism that gay men are all fucked up and high-maintenance. That may in fact be true, or it may just be true about me. I am more than willing to, in retrospect, acknowledge that some of my previous problems in living with gay men could have come from my alcoholism as well as the fact that I can be fucked up and high-maintenance on occasion.

And also that they were assholes.

So both roommates will be moving in next week sometime between Christmas and New Years, and while one of the bedrooms is completely empty and ready for move in, the other is full of my spillover clothes, blankets, Christmas decoration boxes and unsold comic books. All of which will have to be condensed back in to my bedroom or the storage shelves in the kitchen. So I'll be spending all of this week evaluating, sorting and throwing out all of my "stuff". Clothes I haven't worn, magazines articles I was saving to write stories about, books I have no intention of re-reading, all of it is potential landfill.

Plus the kitchen needs to be scrubbed from top to bottom, and now is as good a time as any. I have no plans to look for work this week as nobody worth worrying about hires during Christmas week.

Three people in this apartment (plus a dog) will feel very crowded if I don't make lots of room. But at least my housing worries are over now as my unemployment will more than cover my bills with everything split three ways. Now if I could only sell off that comic book collection I will kill two birds (space and money) with one stone.