I HATE My Hair

Every year before my birthday I go blond. It's usually just blond highlights but it looks good. It's a fun little ritual, because normally I don't care how I look. And the fact that I can look good is nice to know.

Two weeks ago I went to a super stylist who helped Echo with its Makeover Edition. I decided to let her do it instead of the dude I normally go to. She told me she wasn't feeling highlights. She wanted to go two shades lighter than what my hair currently was.

I have a little bit of red in my hair--it's a dark brown with a bit of red in the mix. After she was done, I looked like Laura Bush. I thought I'd give it a few days to tone down. But it hasn't. It's gotten worse. Now I look like Lucille Ball. In fact, they're calling me Lucy at work--which is funny but annoying.

To top it off, I'm letting my hair grow out. Just to do something different. I've had über short hair since I was in the army. It doesn't bother me to shave my head. But growing it out is definitely something different. So it's not really ready to style yet cuz it's too short still but it's longer than what it normally is. So it doesn't know what the hell to do. Basically I have a red bird's nest on my head.

People who know me well knows this isn't a big deal normally. I can go days wearing ripped shirts, holey underwear and mis-matched socks without feeling self-conscious. Being single I never cared how I looked. However, now that I'm in a relationship I feel obligated to look good. I want SJ to continue to find me attractive. It's kind of hard to feel attractive when hummingbirds dive bomb your head and lay their eggs.

Oh... here are some pix from Vegas.

Buddy imitating an annoying woman from a promotional video at the Sahara
Buddy is actually a shy fellow
A Charlie's in Vegas and not one rugger in the crowd
Different city, same clientele
Her hair tone is just a shy more natural than what mine looks like
Amazingly the Hamburger Mary's in Vegas has SLOWER service than in Phoenix
One of my amazingly delicious meals in Vegas
Our hotel at night 

All the Things She Said

Last Thursday morning, Buddy, SJ and I piled into Buddy’s car and headed up to Vegas. It’s about a 6 hour drive, mostly because it takes over an hour to cross the Hoover Dam. They’re doing construction on it. It took us an hour to go 5 miles. GRRR.

Anyway, Buddy and I were up there because Echo was sending us to do a spread on Vegas. Coincidentally, Joe’s mom, cousins and grandmother were there to celebrate his mom’s birthday.

I’m not going to recount the entire weekend, but let me just say it was great and exhausting.

The itinerary the Chamber of Commerce gave us was action-packed. I’ll post pix later this week. The first night we stayed at the Blue Moon, a gay clothing optional resort off the strip. Friday and Saturday nights we stayed at Paris. Ooh la la!

I did find out some interesting things:

--Despite what some people claim, the Mirage really is there.
--When the lady asks if you want an extra shot in your foot long drink, it’s best to say no.
--My sense of hearing isn’t going, Joe just mumbles a lot.
--Despite what Richard says, Buddy isn’t that rigid when it comes to food.
--I hate Cirque du Soleil and Dragone shows even MORE now that I’ve seen two in person.
--Getting on a roller coaster at 10 in the morning is a great way to start the day.
--Wheel of Fortune is THE BEST slot machine ever.
--Wynn isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
--When staying at a gay clothing optional resort, don’t expect to watch anything on TV except porn.
--When Buddy says he was walking around the clothing optional resort to get coffee, he really means he was cruising the joint (it doesn’t take two hours to walk down two flights of stairs and back).

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS

Las Vegas has a great all-80s station. We listened to it the entire time we were there. The station didn't play my favorite Simple Minds song, but they did play a couple of other ones. All the Things She Said is my favorite Simple Minds song, although it wasn't as popular as Alive and Kicking and Don't Forget About Me.

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Masters of War

I just wanted to briefly comment that we have passed the three year mark of the Iraq War. It sickens me that we're still there and that so many Americans and Iraqis and other nationalities have died.

There's an excellent timeline done by Think Progress--a very good blog. It sources all of the lies told in a comprehensive way. I'm glad there's smart people out there who can do this kind of stuff, because I don't have the time or the intellect to do so.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

SATURDAY'S A RUGBY DAY!
We played the Chicago Dragons this past Saturday. Despite having the lead at halftime and a good majority of the game, we ultimately lost. It was a crushing blow to just about everyone there, including our amazing coach Phill. Phill, you're the shit and don't ever think differently!

There were a lot of things we did wrong. But we also did a lot of good things.

I'm very happy with the way the backs played. I feel like this is the first time that we've ever worked cohesively and not as individual units. We were constantly talking to one another. And the ball was making it down to our outside wing consistently. We were also running some scissor plays--I know I saw it at least twice.

Unfortunately, the ball was not making it into our flyhalf's hands a good portion of the time--for a variety of reasons. So we didn't get to run our plays. But I did get to do something I hadn't done before....

One advantage I have as weak side wing is I get to see how everything is developing (even more so than the Full Back at times).

I was laughing at the fact that the Dragons were openly telling each other what plays they were going to run (through words, hand signals and eye contact)--so I would yell it out to John (our Full Back) and Rickie (our flyhalf). Even when I couldn't hear what plays they were about to run, I could see how they were lining up and who was making eye contact. It made it very easy to read.

I played alright but not great. I was happy with some of the tackles I made. I was also happy that when I did get the ball and was tackled I didn't cough up the ball. I was able to get down on the ground and present the ball to my teammates--for some reason a lot of our guys were panicking and just didn't do that. Oh well. We'll work on it before Bingham.

After the drinkup, SJ and I went home, showered, ate some dinner and fell asleep watching TV. It was nice not to go out drinking some more with the rest of the guys.

I'm loving every minute I get to spend with him. He's truly enhanced my life. Unfortunately, with me working 6 days a week, and with rugby three days a week (plus more some weeks since I'm on the board of directors) and the normal chores that goes with living, we don't get a lot of alone time together. But when we do--it's really wonderful. And for that I'm truly grateful.

I told him that when a cat looks at you and squeezes its eyes, it's saying, "I love you." (I read that somewhere). So now, if we're across the room from each other (like at the drinkup or somewhere else), we squeeze our eyes. It makes us laugh and feel good at the same time. I know this probably sounds nauseating to some, but I thought I'd share anyway.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS

Ok. I didn't write much about the war although I am very passionately against it -- I protested against it before it even happened. I made two signs and stood at Camelback Road and 24th Street. One read, "This Gulf War Veteran Doesn't Approve of THIS Gulf War." The other was more mainstream--I think it read, "It's About the Oil Stupid."

Anyway... this is a great song written by Bob Dylan. The problem with Bob Dylan is he writes these amazing songs and insists on singing them. He's such a horrible singer that it's distracting. Anyway, Pearl Jam has covered it several times. This is one my favorite live versions. Special thanks to Marc from Bawlmer, who found this great streaming site called FLURL who will stream my legally owned songs.

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Happy St. Stanislaus Day!

stanislaus
Originally uploaded by veryapeaz.

I'm sick of hearing about St. Patrick's Day. I have a deep-rooted dislike for this holiday.

When I went to elementary school (St. Joseph's) all of the kids with Irish descent were treated better. Our principal St. Anne O'Donnell LOVED the Irish kids -- if there was an O apostrophe in your last name, you were golden.

I wasn't Irish. I was Polish. Sister Anne didn't give a damn about Polish kids. Every assembly we had there were ALWAYS at least 10 girls doing the jig. There were NEVER any polkas.

When Sister Anne would come in and talk to the classes, she always PRAISED the Irish kids and always talked about Irish culture. Italians, Brits, Germans, and least of all Poles were considered as desirable as the Baptists.

So, even though St. Stanislaus Day is April 11, I'm celebrating it today. I had kielbasa for lunch. For dinner, I'm feasting on Hamburger Mary's but I'll be sure to add sauerkraut. If I'm lucky, I'll find me a Pole for dessert.

No More Lies

I hope you don't mind a little rant against the Catholic Church. I feel like I'm qualified to bitch because I was born and raised Catholic and went to 12 years of Catholic school.

So let me tell you why I'm pissed at the Catholics right now. They are on a mission to persecute and deny the rights of homosexuals. I'm not exactly sure what the fuck we've done to the Catholic church, but if this were the time of the Inquisition I'd have bamboo shoots shoved down my fingernails right now.

First, a couple of months ago, the Pope said it wouldn't allow any gay men into seminaries. Now, this is just ridiculous. As long as the priest stays celibate then it shouldn't matter what his sexual orientation is. But the Pope thinks that a gay man couldn't understand what it would be like to counsel couples (that was one of the points in his edict). I guess celibate heterosexual men are much better at understanding what couples go through.

Then Bishop Olmsted said that an autistic boy can't take Holy Communion because he wasn't able to properly swallow the Host. Now this boy has been taking Communion for THREE YEARS!! I'm sure Jesus Christ is really concerned about fucking rules. Wasn't that his whole mission on earth? To throw away the stupid rules that the religious leaders of the day were preaching? Too bad he wasn't here now, because I'm sure he would be HAPPY that a little autistic boy WANTS to take Communion.

I'm also pissed because the Catholic Bishops in Arizona are telling people to go out and support an amendment that would change the Arizona Constitution banning gay marriage. This amendment would set us back decades. It kills me that they are saying that this amendment protects families.

First, what does a bunch of single celibate men know about families? Second, how does letting two people who love each other threaten families? Third, marriage is a CIVIL affair. I don't give a shit if the Catholic Church says no to gay marriages in their churches. HOWEVER, the United States IS NOT a theocracy. I don't want to be married in a Catholic Church. But I want the federal government to allow my spouse to get social security benefits if I die. I want to be able to visit my spouse in Intensive Care should he get ill. I want to be able to file a joint tax return. I want the over 1,000 rights that are immediately given to married couples.

Remember when inter-racial marriages weren't allowed? Those were sinful and disgusting not too long ago. Times change. We know better now. It saddens me that a man can pay $5,000 and pick from a list of women from the Ukraine, fly her out to the U.S., marry her and instantly have all of the rights and privileges of a married couple. However, a gay couple who have been together 10, 20, 30 years have none! Why does the Catholic Church believe that situation makes for a stronger family than successful long-term homosexual ones?

I'm also pissed because Catholic Charities will no longer do adoptions in Boston. Why? Massachusetts has the gaul to have a non-discrimination policy towards homosexuals. Catholic Charities thinks it's sick to let the gays adopt. So instead of helping gay families adopt children it won't place any children into homes. That's a healthy attitude--let's screw all of the children in Boston because of our homophobia. Adoption agencies across the country have done countless studies and found that children admitted into gay households are not harmed in any way. It kills me this church uses hate as a message.

Finally, I'm pissed at the Catholic Church because they are using the tenets of Christianity to discriminate against homosexuals. They say things like, "We love our gay brothers and sisters but sex outside of marriage is a sin." So let us get fucking married.

That's why they will never like gay marriages. Because if gays can marry and have sex as a married couple, they'd have to accept us as full-fledged members of the Church. They'll never do it. It's so much easier to hate and discriminate.

Sorry about this rant. It probably isn't even cohesive. I'm just a little angry right now. Fortunately, there are religious groups on our side. Many religious leaders are tired of the discrimination and are fighting for GLBT rights. One in Phoenix has written several letters to the editor to the Arizona Republic speaking out against the Catholic Church. They've also petitioned Arizona legislators. The group is called No Longer Silent: Clergy for Justice.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS

Originally, I was going to play Angry Chair by Alice in Chains but that would have made this entire post WAY too serious and angry (but Jay-mon would have loved it). So... I decided on this little gem from the late 80's early 90's. It's called No More Lies by Michel'le. That's what I want to say to all of the politicians and religious leaders who are PISSING ME OFF! NO MORE LIES!!!

Back to the song... When I was going to Russian school at Defense Language Institute in Monterey I used to play it all of the time. My favorite line is:
I'm not a sucker, chill out your nose is growing Pinocchio.

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The Case of the Kooky Cookies

What an interesting weekend! Lately, it seems like they always are.

Friday after work, SJ and I drove down to Tucson. The theater company he works for was premiering Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. On the way down we stopped at McDonald's for a delicious meal. I had the #1 with a coke and he had the #4 with a diet coke.

The show was great. As my family knows, I'm a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. Or at least I was as a child. I loved the guy at 221B Baker Street. I thought he was so cool because he was so smart. He was sort of a hero of mine (that sounds really geeky but it's true). Anyway, the play was very amusing and interesting. I thought the actors who played Holmes and Watson were very good. The Holmes was no Basil Rathbone, but he was good.

Now you may have wondered why I mentioned that we supped at McDonald's. I tend to eat very healthy. So, a brief foray into fast food plays havoc on my digestive system. At the quietest moment of the play, my stomach decided to digest a french fry or part of my Big Mac. It made the LOUDEST ROAR POSSIBLE. SJ turned to me and said, "Was that you?" I was going to blame it on the old lady next to me who farted TWICE, but I owned up to it.

After the play we went to a cast party -- it had free beer! After drinking all of the Fat Tires they had, we headed back to the little apartment ATC let us use. It was really cute and a fun little overnighter. It only cost $10 (for McDonald's) for the whole evening!

Saturday we drove back IN THE RAIN!!! It was not only raining in Phoenix (breaking our 140+ days of no rain--we even made it to the front page of the New York Times--here's a copy of the article), but it was snowing in the higher elevations. Kevin works in Fountain Hills (a suburb of Phoenix) and it was snowing there. It was also snowing where my coach and his partner live (the picture above is from their house). Here's another one. BTW. Phill, I stole your pix for my blog. :-D

Saturday night we had a Monte Carlo Casino Night to raise money for our trip to the Bingham Cup in NYC. Poor SJ had to stand out in the freezing rain to greet people and escort them in. He was supposed to have help. But the prima donna who was supposed to help him said there was a "miscommunication." At the end of the night, said teammate confessed that it was too cold and that's why he wore his suit instead of his shorts and apologized to Joe. I went out to warm him up a couple of times, but he kept telling me to go back inside.

The night was a complete success. Eric and his subcommittee did a kickass job.

While the boyz went to Charlie's, Joe and I went home. He was exhausted from being out in the rain and scarfing down too much dessert (I didn't have the cookies, but William told me they were excellent). I watched Scary Movie 3, took a shower and then opened the window and just listened to the rain come down for a bit. It was so peaceful and so nice to hear rain. I then got into bed and slept very soundly! 

Tagged -- You're It

My good friend, Ted "Hey Hooker!" McCarthy sent me this. It's a MySpace thing , but I'm migrating it here and making it a Blogspot thing.

So the rules are, once you've been tagged you have to write a blog with 6 weird things/habits about yourself. In the end you need to list 6 other people to tag and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment saying "You've been tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog...

6 fucked up things about me:

1) I'm a man of contradictions. I can have two (or three or four) opposing views on the same subject simultaneously. If I don't have a firm opinion on a subject, then I'll see many different perspectives. So, it can be maddening debating with me.

2) I don't take care of myself but I bitch at others when they're not taking care of themselves. I will overextend myself, get no sleep, have a bum ankle or bad back and continue to do everything that I do: work, lift, play tennis/rugby, etc. But if a friend has a sniffle, I'm screaming at them to stay home, rest and go to the doctor.

3) I love big hair bands and I'm not ashamed to admit that I love songs from groups like Extreme, Skid Row, Poison, Dio, White Lion, Whitesnake, etc...

4) I can be terribly selfish. On more than one occasion I've convinced a group of people to see the movie that I wanted to see, despite the fact that they were all in agreement to see something else. I love horror films and would much rather see a bad horror film then a decent drama or something. Once I made some friends see 8MM instead of Shakespeare in Love. 8MM turned out to be horrendous. I eventually saw Shakespeare in Love and was more offended by that then 8MM. I mean Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan? Please, it was a snorefest.

5) I started shaving my chest and legs in the summer to cool my body down. It works! At night during the summer after I shave I have to put on extra blankets! It looks ridiculous but what the hell do I care? I'm more comfortable.

6) I buy new clothes every two or three years and that's only grudgingly. I rely on my family and friends to get me clothes for Christmas or my birthday. I have over 100 t-shirts. That's the majority of my wardrobe. T-shirts. Some are even over 10 years old. Fortunately, concert t-shirts are back in style. Everybody loves my "vintage" Guns N Roses t-shirt, not realizing that it really IS vintage.

OK. My SIX VICTIMS ARE:
Sloppy Joey, Jen S., Jen M., Jeff, Marc, Jay

Worldwide Suicide

I'm not exactly sure where the time goes. It seems like before I know it, a week has passed. It'd be nice if time would slow down just a little bit.

I promised some pix of the Vegas trip. To the right is Joey at Paris. I love this picture because it almost feels like we're in France. Here's Joe and me on top of the Stratosphere right before we got on that damned ride. Look at the fear in my eyes. Here's Joe and my sister Sue - they hit it off pretty well. Both are smart-asses. Here's Joe and I with my cousin Janine after a HUGE breakfast. Here's my dad with Joe. Dad really liked Joe, which was cool. Dad liked him, despite the fact that Joe broke my dad's glasses and knocked over a 7-foot tall lamp in my dad's hotel room. These are the fountains in front of the Bellagio. I loved watching them.

I wasn't too keen on going back to my normal life after the fun of Las Vegas. SJ helped ease the pain by picking me up at the airport, taking me to his place and cooking some delicious Jambalaya (it was Mardi Gras). He threw some beads at me, which was sweet. It made me feel like less of a whore when it came to taking off my clothes.

The next day was normal rugby practice. We did a lot of running but no contact or tackling of any kind. After I got home, I noticed my back starting to stiffen. Within an hour's time I was completely bent over. I could not walk straight.

The next day was no better so I went to my doctor/chiropractor. I couldn't sit for more than 15 minutes. He gave me flexeril and vicodin and told me to rest it. Just stay on my back for a couple of days. If it didn't get better, see him again.

It did get better, thankfully. This happens to me every once in awhile. It's a pain in the ass. It usually happens if I don't lift for awhile (which I hadn't). So a combination of not lifting weights and sleeping on soft hotel beds did me in. It still hurts but at least I can walk now.

Saturday, SJ and I went to Jen's (read her blog if you need a good laugh at being a young parent) house for dinner. It was very good and I had a great time, despite losing at Trivial Pursuit and Spades. I was on drugs at the time, so I'm using that as my excuse (to losing, not having a great time). I was really out of it. I kept getting paranoid because I was sure they were on to me. I felt like there was a 30 second delay between things they said and my response. I was laughing two jokes back.

HAPPY TUNESDAY MOTHERFUCKERS!!

OK. How psyched am I right now? Pearl Jam just announced they are releasing their new album this May. The first single off the record is available as a FREE download (for a couple of days only, I think). The MP3 has no digital rights management attached to it. So people can legally e-mail it to friends and play it on any kind of audio device. That's why I love this band so much. They're just cool motherfuckers. Anyway, the single is called Worldwide Suicide and despite the killer beat, it's a sad subject--it's about the state of the world right now. And that's not a happy subject.

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If you like it, download it for free here: