Superman Returns

Last Saturday the four of us went to see Superman Returns. Mr. Brandon Routh is a great Clark Kent and a super Superman. Kevin Spacey was maniacally convincing as Lex Luthor. What intrigues me most is whether Warner Bros. will keep Jason White in future installments to this newest incarnation of the Superman universe. I am a big fan of the Son of Krypton, especially in movies and on TV. My only regret is not building the comic collection during my youth. At least there were my best friend Evan's copies of DC comics to peruse as often as I could. My advice: go see the movie, even if only to drool over the Man of Steel.

Sun & art

Apart from reading while I sun beside the pool, I enjoy sketching the environment whether man-made or natural. With some mental editiing, I removed the fencing, safety equipment, picnic table and the rules sign. I liked the composition.

Then I decided to paint this scene. Finally, I cracked open the travel watercolor set that my boyfriend John gave to me this past Christmas. The little paint pans were difficult to open with my fat fingers, but after getting it all setup, I think I put together a nice little painting. But for proportion and balance, I believe the sketch is superior.

You say it's your birthday?

Well, it's my birthday, too (and Donald Duck's). A whopping 37 years I've been on this Earth. Today my boyfriend surprised me with a ring. It's not a "commitment" ring, but it's beautiful: titanium with a blue topaz stone. I love it. My children gave me funny greeting cards. Thank goodness there were no ties or belts or wallets. For the most part, this has been a day like any other. Do I feel any older today? I don't know if it's just today, but I do feel that in the last year, I have aged. There are ten extra pounds that have crept back around my waist. They've got to go. All the bad carbs need to get out of the house. So do I. More walks with Beau, more swimming at the pool - and not just sunning - and perhaps, I can whip myself back into some kind of shape. There's no way I'm padding my midsection like I used to do. I don't want my daughter to start calling me Santa Claus again.

Gay terminology that you might not know

Geritwink [dʒє’-ri-twiηk’], n. The aging queen who dresses and behaves as if the two digits of her age were reversed, i.e., a 51-year old with the exposed midriff and short shorts, prancing about as if she were still 15 (from Indo-European ĝer-, to ripen, grow old + Gay American slang twink, a young, fit and attractive male, usually with less-than-average intellect, possibly from the Hostess brand Twinkie snack food).

Post-planning

In my first four years at Northgate, Page and Marie would accompany me to school on teacher planning days only to claim they were bored out their minds, they hated coming with me, that all the other children of teachers were allowed to have so much more fun. Today, however, by the simple whim of an anxious father, I kept them with me all day rather than taking them to their grandparents by lunchtime. Page and Marie clung to me throughout day like socks to a sweater fresh from the dryer. I coaxed them into making rounds to say hello to teachers that knew them and to introduce them to a few new faces. We made a little movie theater in my room using the DVD player and the large projection screen. They ate their Lunchables and snacks and helped me clean my classroom. Their only lament was that they weren't going to be spending all my planning days at Northgate with me. God, I miss them so terribly every day. Two years seems like torture, but they will pass.

« A Brand New Car ! »

If only these had been the words of Bob Barker.

Instead, it's what I acquired on my own last weekend. "My own" meaning that I signed the loan papers all by myself. John only came along with me to help finagle a lower monthly payment. Fortunately, I was also able to get a good trade-in value for my old, road-weary Saturn.

My new Elantra is kind of sexy and very fun. The hatchback gives some room for Beau when I take him along with the kids and me. It drives easily with tight handling and sporty suspension. The kids like riding in it and are enjoying the "new car smell" as much as I do. To top it all off, the warranty will last as long as the loan!

School's out for summer!

Working with students is very rewarding, but I needed a freaking break from the business of teaching. With all the personal upheaval I've felt at home relating to the recent custody hearing, I've found school to be especially taxing the harder I've tried not to let my personal life interfere. I've leaned on my students, and honestly, without their support, I wouldn't have got through the ordeal. Although my own children are with me only 1/3 of the year, I had 65 others with me 5 days a week professing their faith in me as a teacher and a father. I really do have awesome students, and I'm grateful to have worked with all of them this year.

« Bachelor » dinner

I'm not exactly a bachelor, but I have too many nights home alone. When money is tight and there's not much food to go on at home, I've learned to improvise.

Entree:
on medium-high heat warm 3 Tbsp olive oil in a 10" cast-iron skillet
add 1/2 a sweet onion chopped and "sweat" it in the pan
add one Idaho potato diced with skin
add 4 Tbsp random chopped herbs (I used parsley, oregano, lavender, rosemary and sage)
let this sautee until the edges of the potato pieces turn white
then add about 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables (I used a California blend)
next I added two Boca brand frozen vegetarian Italian sausages
then 1/3 cup liquid (I used water and Grey Goose vodka)
cover and let simmer until potatoes are tender enough to cut with a fork
MMMMM...Was it good!

Dessert:
1/2 a multigrain bagel... toasted
about 15 or dark choclate chips (I used Ghirardelli 70% cocoa baking pieces)
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
place the chips on the freshly toasted bagel and then "nuke" that for about 10 to 15 seconds
then shmeer on the peanut butter
[Anyone who claims this isn't delicious is lying out his ass!]

It's been 9 days...

...since I lost the custody hearing with my ex-wife over our children. It's been nine days of despair.

Kennel cough

Training a new dog so that he can be successfully acclimated to your home is a challenge in itself. Throw in some rambunctiousness along with just a touch of stubbornness, then add a case of kennel cough, and you've got the makings of a very long night indeed. Beau, my new dog, is a sweet addition to our home. He's good natured and seems to learn quickly. However, when he came to sounding as if he'd cough up a Mack truck, I got very worried. Thank goodness for the doctors at Dogwood Veterinary Hospital (www.dogwoodvet.com) who assuaged my fears over the phone and Beau's cough in their clinic. Dr. Johnson's calm advice during a 4 AM call helped Beau to get some rest and me to get some peace of mind. At least I was able to clean up the phlegm and vomit without too much difficulty. The medines seem to be helping him, and everyone is getting some needed rest.

New Technology

Getting a new computer may seem like a great step, especially when its predecessor had actually died; however, setting up the new computer is not treat when you've data to recover all messed together in some crazy dump of an old hard drive. Next step during this coming week will be cleaning up data off my kids computer that served as an interim device for me for more than a month. The tax return is wiped out, but I've got a good machine having taken a little less for video card at 128 MB of RAM there, but with a faster Intel processor. It's a Gateway, which is a brand that has served me quite well in the past. Now I hope that when Windows Vista hits the market, this computer will be adequately equipped to handle the upgrade.

iPod update: over 1500 songs and more than 1200 photos in only 7 gig of data. I love it!

Wow!

I love my new video iPod.

3121

Te amo, corazón is a nice song, easy to hear, but a boring video. Prince's music has always been a delight to me even if at times only because of its variety in style and complexity. His abandonment of sexual funkadelic has not diminished his abilities as a songwriter. Still, the flavor of his music videos could become bland. If he can put out a good dance video next, with some popping choreography, it would be a good move. More than likely, I'll buy the album and not simply to keep my collection intact.

Gene Shalit needs to learn to separate criticism from dimwitticism

Please read this article and view the clip linked there before reading my post: http://www.glaad.org/action/alerts_detail.php?id=3849#. Thank you.

Normally, I'd just let inflammatory comments slide. Although my family might accuse me of soapboxing from time to time, it's not my style to do so.

Gene Shalit certainly has every right to his entire opinion of the film Brokeback Mountain and his characterization of the roles there portrayed. However, as a respected media figure, his choice of "sexual predator" was not the best. I would even agree the nascent moments of Jack and Ennis's sexual relationship were very aggressive, and one could certainly describe it as violent, but Mr. Shalit's cleverly coined quotes demonstrate more a misinterpretation of gay male relationships. Instead, the accusatory label obfuscates the intention of the film by categorizing and marginalizing homosexual men.

The two men that Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger carefully ensconce in their performances are but one microcosm of male sexuality, and by no means does this film serve as an example of how all men are - gay, straight, bi or whatever. The fierce debut of their affaire reflects their fear of the rest of the world; the infrequent trysts are the more like the installments of Harry Potter novels - addictive, intense, too few and far between, understood to have an eventual end that hope tries to keep at bay but cannot.

Humbly, I would submit that this film by Ang Lee is not so very different than Robert Mulligan's film adaptation of Same Time, Next Year. The lack of much comedy in Mr. Lee's film is a good mirror of the lack of humor that most Americans have one the subject when they remember that being gay has absolutely nothing to do with fashion, show tunes or home makeovers. It has everything to do with men loving each other and having sex with each other. Brokeback Mountain is more about choices that all people make concerning relationships, love, marriage and family. Because the two lead characters are men who want each other, a lot of people will choose not to see this movie. Unfortunately, Mr. Shalit's choice of words may mean that even more will not.

Christmas Eve Eve

The day before the night before Christmas can be its own special time. Today with my children was at once rife with high tension and relatively carefree. Without school or work as part of our daily routine, we could take our time doing as we pleased with the day. We slept late, had hot breakfast together, lounged about while watching the History Channel. Later, I worked on some translation work to earn some extra cash in the New Year while my two munchkins played with Magnetix and read books.

Rather than exert ourselves in any way by cooking at home for lunch, we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, chatted, ate, drank sweet iced tea. Then we truly braved the crowds and bought some last minute decorations to add to the tree and a present for my boyfriend, John, since his birthday is the 28th. At the department store, we met an acquaintance, the mother of one of my son's former Cub Scout Den-mates. It felt so pleasant to have a friendly conversation, just to enjoy being part of the community. The only drawback was the drive home. Traffic was absolutely frightful. The car before us at one intersection was from Massachusetts, and its driver seemed as lost and confused as we did ourselves.

Finally we made it home. I helped my son work on a model airplane that he's assembling for a social studies project. My daughter played more with her magnetic toys. The evening ended with us watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" on cable television. Tomorrow morning will be filled with the smells of hashbrowns for breakfast and baked cookies for Santa Claus. I can hardly wait. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Waking Up With A Headache

It's hard to start your day feeling as if you can conquer the world when your head is aching, your throat is burning and you're more exhausted than when you went to bed.

Doves

crayon de mine graphite - octobre October 2005 2005
I did this drawing from photographs that I took of doves flying over the Little River Canyon near Fort Payne, AL.

Pre-tax or Post-tax

Trying to make heads or tails of the complexities of employee benefits during open enrollment can be quite confusing. The prospect of orthodontics for my children leaves me wondering if it’s even possible to put enough into my medical flex savings account. It may all become a tax benefit, but then there’s not enough available for gasoline or groceries. Yikes! Nevertheless, I’ve reenrolled, and I supposed I’ll have 12 full months to decide whether I’ve made a horrible mistake.

Glass & Glitter

Once either of those shiny bits hits your floor, you will never get them all from the carpet or linoleum or hardwood. Months after the Pyrex lid crashes and shatters on the floor, a bare foot finds the one missed sliver embedded between two toes, a trickle of blood unable to hide the sparkle. As for glitter, once a seven year old gets hold of a shaker for a class project, you can run your vacuum cleaner until the Apocolypse, and there will be still one more glint in the carpet when the Lord's hallowed luminescence enters into your home.

Fleurs de lis blanches (White lilies)

aquarelle watercolor - juillet July 2005