CHUCK IN A BOX

Just Say No!

I’m free of that bit of nonsense.  All friends removed, account deactivated….tah dah!  I figure if they are important enough to me, I’ll talk to them the old fashioned way….on the phone or in person….and….of course the not-so-old fashioned method of email – though I guess that would count as letter writing which WOULD be old fashioned.

Eh my parents and grandparents never needed social networking sites….why do I?  For all it’s members and features and what not, FB really was basically a MySpace for grown-ups…minus the tacky ‘Pimp MySpace’ layouts.  Now I don’t have to worry about drama, lame updates, or folks being critical of my posting style/substance.

Free at last, Free at last….Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last……

…it’s really kind of sad to be honest.  I guess knowing this about myself is some sort of acknowledgment of a short coming but still, I really wish I could stick to things more, I guess if they were really and truly important enough, I would but….

I say this because I’m beginning to tire of keeping up with the “other blog/website” and all that goes with it.  I can totally understand why BP may have felt drained by hers and have a totally new found respect for what she and (OMG) people like JM do with his.  I mean being online has become almost a requirement to the point where it really isn’t “fun” anymore.  I think Kristy tried to warn me about this and I thought, no, no I can do it (insert chest thumping here) and it doesn’t take up that much time at all…..little did I know.

I know a couple of people who are going to be VERY happy to see that I’m loosing momentum, as a matter of fact, I bet they were waiting/counting on it LOL.  Guess I can’t really blame them, if I’d been completely honest with myself from the get-go, I would have realized I don’t have that kind of dedication and commitment, especially to something that I’m not really that passionate about.  I don’t know why I thought I could engage a community and get some discussion going…how stupid of me, and maybe I’m not giving it enough time.  I was actually amazed that the site has 70-80 something visitors each day over the last couple of days compared to the mid 30′s it normally gets on a daily basis.

I think I would much rather write about things that I like/want to on my own personal blog; spend more time on my photography and actually being involved with my family and friends more than camped in front of a glowing display typing up notes on computer trying to inform a city about things going on in/around them.

Oh well, we’ll see how it goes but, I think MyPBG may start taking a back seat to MyLIFE.

….the only bad part is that when this happens I instantly feel like a failure when I shouldn’t.  I wanted to try to do something and I did…I guess that’s how we learn if we like something or not by making an effort to try.

Saw the first one on one site and of course I had to see what other fun things there were on YouTube.  I gotta say, these guys look like they are having a shite load of fun.  I guess you can’t blame them, especially the guys stationed in the Middle East – if I had the potential of getting shot at each day I’d pretty damned stressed myself.

The two main guys in this video are so damned adorable.

Good looking and a good lip syncher…has a future at Drag Brunch?

LOL I’d never heard this song before…but…me likey, me likey!

Ummmm when one hot, shirtless dancing guy isn’t enough.

Yeah…slow day and I didn’t feel like writing…just an eye candy day….or summink like that.

But, is it art?

 So I think (read as hope) that today’s visit at Davis & Nyczepir will be my last follow-up visit.  It has been about 2 years since my braces came off and I’m tired of the whole ordeal.  I mean it’s like any other doctor appointment – you wait for about 30-45 minutes or so, you see the doctor for maybe 5 minutes while he looks at the retainer and yer done. 

I have absolutely no regrets about getting the braces and I’m kinda glad that I didn’t have them when I was a youngster.  The 2 years FLEW by as an adult – though I can tell ya, I cursed the metal brackets MANY times when I wanted to eat out.  There really is no delicate way of trying to pry food out of those things and you hate to excuse yourself from the table every few minutes.  Leafy green things (spinach, kale, turnip greens, collards, salad) were the absolute WORST for me, not to mention 2 years of no popcorn or chewing gum.

My big thing now is remembering to wear my retainers at night when I go to bed.  One of the three of them is fixed so no worries there and putting the other two in my mouth really doesn’t take any effort – it’s just REMEMBERING to do it.  I need a little night time check-list like a 5 year old I guess.

As I said, I have no regrets about doing it – it is really amazing the amount of confidence it gave me.  I don’t cover my mouth like a little Geisha girlwhen I laugh anymore either which I REALLY like.  Now I have to work on making them super, uber white (I guess about 40 years of tea, smoking, and coffee do tend to take their toll on how lustrous your chompers look) – maybe one of those Zoomlaser whiteners?  Then again….lasers…..in my mouth…..mmmmaybe notsomuch.

City of Heroes

City of Villains

Yes, I’m getting sucked back into CoX (no – you dirty minded sods, CoX is what we who play the game call City of Heroes and City of Villains instead of saying CoH and/or CoV – we’re cool like that) like a good comic book nerd combo MMORPG gamer.  I took a year off of CoX and played WoW (World of Warcraft) but got a bit tired of not being able to team easily.  Really – that’s the whole point of a Massively MULTI-PLAYER Online Role Playing Game.  With CoX, you can get a PUG (Pick Up Group) in no time flat.  This lets me live out my inner hero – really, where else can you fly, teleport, have super speed or super jump?  Fire blasts of electricity, fire, ice, negative energy from your hands or control the elements or plants or or or or…..*boggle* 

Man….there was a time when I would have thought I was an even bigger freak that I am – a gay guy? who like comics? who likes online gaming? OMFGWTFBBQ!!11Eleventy-One!!! Oh Noes!  Then I happened across Gaymer and realized OH SNAP there are actually a TON of gay guys (and a few lesbians too) that are into sci-fi, anime, comics, superheroes, pc and console gaming.  I am not alone! 

Well – gotta run, I’m working on leveling up my level 43 Illusion Controller by doing Portal Missions on Peregrine Island.  

….tights are a little confining…..

So it was nice to read that if you give up (GASP – say it ain’t so!) or miss your daily caffeine, it can be perilous.  Really? This is news?  Well according to a story on CNN this morning it is.

I've had MANY of these days!

Researchers also reported that some caffeine users considered themselves addicted to caffeine because they were unable to quit or cut down on their usage.

Wow - I look kinda blue in this....

Well, really only my right eye and I’m getting DAMNED tired of it.  Somehow I’ve managed pick up an eye infection that I’ve had since .. oh about this time last year .. called Blepharitis and it’s not fun.  I went to Doc in a Box (aka Patient First) before my trip to Halifax last year and got an antibiotic goo (not the technical term for it) to put in my eye.  That in itself was a pain in the arse and seemed to clear it up.

Several weeks ago I went back to Patient First for the same problem – only this time it was on the inside of my eye as opposed to the outer eye and I got a bit stronger antibiotic in the form of eye drops.  Now, this is mostly my own fault but I did not administer said eye drops as prescribed by the doctor and then a few days into the treatment, Keith and I came home to find that Ollie had managed to get a hold of the bottle and ate/chewed it up.  To date, Ollie has not had any problems other than his normal weirdness due to ingesting antibiotic eye drops.

NOW – I have it again and well, I guess I’ll be going back to the doctor again.  I think it feels worse than it looks….I would say the feeling is akin to having a really potent shampoo in the eye burn and not being able to do anything about it.  It’s also fun when it “weeps” – yeah it waters and then gets all crusty….sounds pretty huh?  Dontcha wish yer girlfriend was hot like me? Dontcha?

Looks like the causes of this are either scalp dandruff (hey I wash my hair every day dammit), acne rosacea, or a bacterial (Staph) infection.  I don’t have acne rosacea (that I know of) so I guess it could only be one of the other two – gah and I’m sorta anal about my personal hygeine – what with being a ‘mo and everything so this is totally bumming me out – well, that and feeling like everyone is staring at my Quasimodo eye.

B-E-A-V-E-R!  The language can be a bit much for more sensitive folks.  I love her eyes in this video – maybe I can duplicate that the next time I do drag (don’t hold your breath Keith!)

I know it’s an older song but I just C-A-N-N-O-T get enough of this song.  I used to be SUCH a label whore – I still am to some degree but nothing like I used to be.

I suppose I SHOULD focus on the fact that we used 1, 127 LESS kWh of electricity this January billing compared to the same period last year but, I’m still a bit pissed that my electric bill was only about $28 less expensive.  I guess with the 18% increase that was approved last year for Dominion Power by the Virginia General Assembly I should be glad it was less at all but, I was expecting a bit more of a savings for using considerably less electricity.

So, it seems that some of our energy saving ideas and practices are actually working.  We’ve swapped out most everything to CFL bulbs; we’ve got our programmable thermostat set to 68 while we’re home and awake and goes down to about 62 when we’re not home or asleep; we’ve hooked up all our little energy vampires to surge protectors that can be turned off when we are not using them (at work or while asleep); we’re paying more attention to what we leave on when we aren’t in a room; we’ve put an insulating blanket on our hot water heater; and we’ve vented our dryer indoors to help offset heating costs (as well as adding some moisture to the air and some nice smells – YAY dryer sheets!)

Keith really wants to go ‘off the grid’ and have solar, wind, etc. but that isn’t too realistic living here in Petersburg.  Eh we can’t even get curbside recycling pickup (Colonial Heights, Chesterfield, Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, etc all have it) so I doubt the city would offer any assistance converting to alternative sources of energy.