Author: Moby

Texas – Day 5 – Headed Home

Well, I’m back at the airport getting ready to head home. Things wrapped up way sooner than expected so I’m here early. Thankfully, there was very little drama involved w/this trip (so far). The only exception being BofA randomly blocking my debit card again. I think it’s time to switch banks. They rate top of the list in convenience but the rest of their service is going downhill.

Overall, the trip was successful. I didn’t do the bars or the nightlife this time around. The main focus was to see the brother. However, I got to renew one friendship and put to rest another that was sort of dragging along. I did squeeze a little shopping in as well so mission accomplished. I did come away w/some observations regarding the status of things w/the family. I need to sort it out before blathering on about it here though. The Galveston leg of my trip was a nice surprise. Completely unexpected and I think I’m still absorbing all of it. I have the feeling someone is trying to tell me something. And I’m doing my best to listen!

Tomorrow, I’m off to the Pride parade in SF to help w/the BCC booth. If you are gonna be in town, stop by and say howdy!

Deja Vu

Tonight I found myself sitting in the exact same spot where, 16 years ago, I almost took my life. I know you’re probably asking yourself, “WTF is he talking about?”. Well, I’m getting to it. And while it is a bit heavy, it’s on a good bent.

*

To start, let me back up a bit. I detoured thru Galveston today to pick up a friend who wanted to tag along w/me to see the clan. I’ve known Curtis going on 14 years now. I don’t often get to see him while I’m here so I figured I could kill two birds w/one stone. The bad news is he could only get one day off from work so I had to bring him back to Galveston. I originally planned to drive back into Houston and crash w/Trev however, the idea struck me to just get a cheapy hotel room and stay here. Galveston is actually 45 minutes closer to our place in the sticks. And yeah, I could have stayed w/Curtis but I was in a weird mood to be alone. Now I know why.

Isn’t it funny sometimes how life sorta plops you down somewhere w/o rhyme or reason. You are just toodling along and BAM! It hits you. It happened like that for me tonight. I didn’t spend much effort looking for a hotel. I grabbed the first one that looked good and showed “free wifi” on the marquee. As luck would have it, The Commoder Hotel fit the bill nicely. I park, drop the gear off, and then hit the beach. I’m walking out onto the dike to get a good blast of the water and salt air. At this point, I wasn’t really sure why my mood had turned so somber. I had a good day hanging out w/Curtis and the brother. Yet, I felt oddly familiar emotions boiling just beneath the surface of my id. I eventually chalked it up to old memories and kept walking. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the dike that it hit me.

This was the dike. The dike where 16 years ago I found myself seriously contemplating walking out into the ocean and just letting go of all the pain. I couldn’t believe it. How could I have forgotten? Better yet, what guided me to this very spot tonight? I stood there in complete disbelief at first. So many emotions fighting for dominance. I’m not really sure how long I stood there. After the shock wore off, I realized not only was I soaking wet (I’d been standing at the very end and the waves were splashing all over me), I was also crying. And as I stood there licking the salt water from my face, I realized I was crying not from sadness but happiness. Happy for so many reasons but the most obvious was that I had survived. Happy that I kept on going and made something of myself. Maybe not something great but something nonetheless. I sat down (after backing up a bit) and just let all the emotions wash over me. Towards the end, I began to feel a bit empty. I reached for my little piece of joy and there it was. Tucked away but still there as always just waiting for me to need it.

Ya know folks, I really have led a blessed life. Oh! And I think I realize now why I’m so drawn to the beach. It’s not just the waves and sun. It’s the connection that it reminds me of. The point in my life when I first found myself. How could I have missed that all these years.

No matter what happens tomorrow, this has been the best vacation I’ve ever taken.

I Really Am…

. . . a big ole slut! I’m on day two and I’m just finished from an interesting encounter at Cafe Express. Cafe Express is a local joint I swore I’d never eat at again after getting a case of food poisoning about 8 years ago. If you read w/any regularity, you’ve heard mention of the first time I got salmonella poisoning. Well, I got it at Cafe Express. The manager was a complete ass when I politely tried to inform him two weeks later. Yeah, it took me that long to recover. I was a sick puppy. So long story short, I showed him who could be the bigger ass before I left. (In my defense, I was a bit younger and prone to loud outbursts of anger to get my point across…oh wait, I still do that, nevermind.) Anyway, after driving around for 45 minutes trying to decide what to eat for lunch (sometimes too many choices is NOT a good thing), I decided to give’em another whirl. I almost didn’t recognize the place. Different interior and different menu all together. The meal was good. And the chicken was definitely cooked so no worries on a repeat case. It’s after the meal that’s the “meat and potatoes” of this post.

I’m sitting at my booth w/the laptop out catching up on some work from the BCC. (Yes the committee chair FINALLY sent me some work to do.) I glance up to see this rather strapping fellow looking at me. I didn’t think much of it and went back to work. A few minutes later, I see said fellow still looking and his hand is mysteriously absent below his table. Of course, being the opportunist that I am, I couldn’t let such a good opportunity go to waste. I’m giggling at this point thinking to myself, “only me”. Fast forward 20 minutes later, I’m at his place (which just happened to be around the corner) giving him a pickle tickle. A fun spontaneous encounter. In a word, HOT!

The only minus was afterwards he wanted to ‘get to know me’. Ugh! I had already explained I was visiting from SF and just in town for the week. What was he hoping for? I sorta tuned him out while getting dressed but in all the hubub I hear the words “long distance relationship”. *battle sirens noise* Red ALERT – ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS! Why did he have to go and ruin it? Here we just had a nice fun encounter doing the horizontal mambo and he goes and mentions the R word. Run Todo Run!

Oddly enough, I got more errands done today than I did all of last week at home. How’s that for comedy? I got some laundry done. Yes, I did the shameful act of packing dirty clothes. You know how much I love doing laundry. However, I also packed very light so I could get some shopping in while I’m here. I got 6 new pair of undies and socks, courtesy of the local Marshalls outlet. I also stopped by Radio Shack and pick up an adapter for the phone. So now, I’m back at Starbucks getting my updates in. Trev is off soon and we’ll head off to the gym. I haven’t been in a few days and I’m itchin’ for a good workout.

Texas – Day 1

I’m coming to the end of day one. I made it safe and sound and the flight was uneventful.

My day started at 5:00am pacific coast time. I often end up running late for one reason or another but this time I was right on time. I found myself sitting down to eat a very over priced breakfast after going thru security at the airport.

Barring that, it was actually pretty good. Fresh croissant, eggs, bacon, and potatoes.

The flight, while full, was very uneventful. I sat toward the back and watched movies on the laptop the whole way.

Of course, right off the plane, I had to have me some Whataburger. I loves me some Whataburger. Kel? I’m having some for you too!

And then to round off the day, Trevan and I had dinner at Barnaby’s, one of our favorite local restaurants.

Does this sound familiar? For all my pretense, I really am a creature of habit when it comes to eating out.

So day one is fast coming to an end. I’m off to meet some friends for a drink and then calling it an early night. Oh and thanks for the frappr pics!

Charity? What Charity

I’m not having much fun this year w/the BCC. The committee chair has all but abandoned working on the website and it shows. The events are empty and the hits are down to a tenth of the average.

I’ve hinted a few times about it but he doesn’t really seem to care. I guess I’m annoyed because the site has so much potential and it’s being squandered. I did tell him that my free time this year would be limited however, I didn’t mean for him to abandon it all together.

Not being shy (duh), I sent him an email expressing my feelings. If it ignores it or blows me off again, I’ll probably resign.

Frappr

I made the jump to frappr. I’m never one to jump onboard just because “everyone’s using it” mentality so I tinkered w/it myself for a while and I like it. Feel free to add your pics or location but it’s not a requirement. I like it because it encourages communication. I mean that is the point of social networking after all right?

Don’t let the technology scare ya, it’s easy. If you are a frappr member just click to add yourself. If not, click add me and it will let you sign up as you add yourself. You can add your location as an overlay and/or you can just add an image (to the left) to show you visit often.

*disclaimer* You do need shockwave enabled thru your browser for it to work

Home Again

I’ll be headed home to Texas in just a couple more days. My flight leaves on Monday morning bright and early. I called an old friend back in Galveston and invited him to go w/me to see my brother. I’ve known him since I was 19 and life hasn’t been too easy for him lately. It might be nice to get him out of town for awhile. He went w/me once before and really enjoyed being out in the open country.

I booked my flight a little differently this time. There was this new airline called Ebonics Airways and they were so cheap I couldn’t pass it up. *giggle* I love’s me some Shirley! (I’ll be driving right thru big Beaumont too!)

Seriously though, I’m looking forward to the trip. I’ll spend a few days in Houston visiting friends and the rest w/my brother. I can tell he is looking forward to it as well. He seems very happy that we are talking so much again. I didn’t realize how much I missed him I guess.

I Hate Traineee’s!

. . . no I don’t but yesterday was a long one. 7am to 11pm. OY!

Another long day today but not like yesterday.

Btw, if you’ve been following The Aids Ride this year, you can hop over to Jack Hampster and see is photo montage. If you stop by, leave some kind words of encouragement too!

Happy weekend for those of you who work some sort of normal schedule. (who me bitter? naaaaaah)

Blogger Sighting III (I think)

I think I saw dunner today. And he totally snubbed me too! *sniffle* I broke down in tears. Oh the horror of it all.

Ok, I’m not even sure it was him. But if it was him, he was looking like hotness in his corporate duds. I was checking him out and thinking “this guy looks vaguely familiar“. Then as he passed me in the window of the Cove, I thought “wait! was that dunner?” Damn! Lost another one to Geico.

Dunner, if you’re out there, was that you?