The Gideonse Bible

Tweets for the week of 2009-07-18

2009-07-18T08:59:00Z

would pay someone to… well, do a lot of things. But he is poor, so the weekend is a giant suck. Except for yesterday's beach outing. #
wonders if anyone in San Diego knows how to convert to 110V outlet to a 240V outlet, you know, without electrocuting anybody. #
still doesn't have a working dryer, so the Gideonse/Williams family is hanging its laundry in the garage, the front yard, the living room… #
loves the pure joy of EternalMoonwalk.com. ( http://bit.ly/5oRG9 ) #
hit the iTunes Genius on "Enjoy the Silence" and was blessed with a 100-song playlist that is so,so, so 80s gay. #
cannot believe there wasn't a line at the Hole! #
needs to learn not to read the comments on the Huff Post; they're only slightly less offensive than the ones on YouTube. http://is.gd/1xg2K #
loves the subject of the latest email from The New Yorker: "Sarah Palin, the obesity epidemic." #
is watching "Traffic" with his students. #
[hearts] Tori Amos for — HA — covering Britney Spears. ( http://bit.ly/nDCj9 ) #
thought it would be less hot today. Wah. #
wonders what the secret ingredient in Peet's coffee is. Ritalin? Meth? Crack? #
http://twitpic.com/acz40 – having Ruthie and not Rich Sweeney at the Reality TV event at Mo's is lame. #
loves days when he can prep for class in 10 minutes flat. #
is happy that the smell wafting through his window switched from Aqua Net to bacon. #
http://twitpic.com/ah0ds – is walking a very small dog. #
will go bat-shit if his already meager grad student wages are reduced by the UC Regents. #
wonders if the Prius ads are among the best ever made. Top 10, at least? #
is at World Famous in Pacific Beach because it's Eduardo's birthday. One should say, "because it's Eduardo's birthday" to explain or exc … #

CNN asks if you think the moon landings were faked [Flickr]

2009-07-17T08:58:28-07:00

giddygoon posted a photo:

Are you fucking kidding me?

14% thinks they were.

Tweets for the week of 2009-07-11

2009-07-16T20:31:38Z

loves reading about how utterly incompetent and weird Sarah Palin is. ( http://bit.ly/IBUFL ) #
wonders if Sarah Palin’s successor is as dumb as she is. ( http://bit.ly/jib3e ) #
didn’t realize Levi Johnston could spell, let alone write a book. ( http://bit.ly/nw7U8 ) #
thinks President Muffley’s phone call to the Russian premier in Dr. Strangelove is one of the greatest comic monologues of all time. #
doesn’t know where to hang the pictures. #
RT @thegarance Sparklers & MGMT. http://bit.ly/131YZm. Happy 4th of July! #
loves, loves, LOVES that two older gentlemen who live two doors down are having their own R&B dance party. #
wonders if the tatted up blond guy who is moving in downstairs is a gay. http://posted.at/FaU #
is going to the gym, where he hopes the endorphins will help him forget his seriously serious financial problems. http://posted.at/LFK #
http://twitpic.com/9gcat – wonders what tired out Jack and Betsy. #
forgot how absolutely amazing The Talented Mr. Ripley is. #
didn’t realize 1) M. Butterfly was a true story, nor 2) that anyone involved could still be alive. ( http://bit.ly/YBdM8 ) #
is is “fast and furtive.” ( http://bit.ly/18YJoU ) #
wonders why folks are so excited about going to the Michael Jackson tribute. It’s not like MJ is performing. ( http://bit.ly/Q5ePL ) #
is working on his NSF grant application. #
doesn’t quite understand how Sears is still in business. They’re always empty. #
used to represent @stephenfalk, who wrote tonight’s episode of Weeds, which was wonderful and wonderfully filthy. #
is happy about the new student loan laws. ( http://bit.ly/XFJdd ) #
is at Bourbon Street. The place stinks of stale beer and sadness. #
wishes Republicans weren’t total idiots. But if 7 in 10 would vote for Palin, it’s clear 70% are total idiots. ( http://bit.ly/VStjk ) #
has 8.6 pounds in the last month. #
wants to be a little clearer: He lost 8.6 pounds in the last month. #
is is at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Again. ( http://bit.ly/3eFFBO
) #
wants you to know than even a monkey knows that your grammar sucks butt. ( http://bit.ly/2sXw8H ) #
is pleased that A.O. Scott wrote “‘Brüno’ is a lazy piece of work that panders more than it provokes.” ( http://bit.ly/252gIN ) #
would like to know if anyone has successfully won an appeal on a UCSD parking ticket. If so, please advise. #
is watching “1984″ because he has been thinking too much about UCSD’s parking Nazis. #
is eating in the ghetto on a hundred-dollar plate. #
cannot believe Newsweek’s Top 100 Books list. It’s a cynical ploy for web traffic. And terrible. ( http://bit.ly/bpxsA ) #

Samson at the park in La Jolla Cove [Flickr]

2009-07-15T16:56:13-07:00

giddygoon posted a video:

I hung out with my friend Michelle and her crazy cute dogs in La Jolla Cove. This is Samson. He weighs less than three pounds, or 1/6 of Betsy.

Okay, fine. I’ll live-blog the Michael Jackson memorial service. And I did. So there.

2009-07-09T17:14:12Z

10:26 am: Wait a sec. Diana Ross, Quincy Jones, and Dame Elizabeth Taylor are NOT there. Neither is Nelson Mandela.

10:27 am: Watching CNN. Soledad O’Brien just said that MJ and Nelson Mandela were “so connected.” Yeah, whatever.

10:30 am: The casket is GOLD. Of course, it is.

10:31 am: Anderson Cooper just said that, according to LAX, there was an increase of visitors to LA. AC says that we don’t know why, but it could be because of MJ. Ah, live TV and nonsense speculation.

10:32 am: They’re showing the rehearsal footage from two days pre-dead. He’s sooooo lip-synching.

10:33 am: Oh! It’s starting.

10:34 am: The choir is singing “We’re Going To See the King.” The crowd cheers. Dude: The king here is NOT MJ. It’s Jesus, folks. Or God.

10:36 am: Random people are shouting, “We love you, Michael!”

10:38 am: Rev. Lucious Smith is throwing in MJ song titles. “Remember the Time.” “Heal the World.”

10:40 am: “I’ll Be There.” This was the most obvious song. Oh, Mariah. Why must you conduct your own voice with your left hand? Who the hell is Trey Lorenz? OMG!!! It’s the guy who sang on her cover from 1992. Where has he been?

10:41 am: Did the rest of the Jackson 5 have to wear identical black suits? I mean, really.

10:45 am: Queen Latifah is representin’ all the folks who didn’t know him. She just did the robot.

10:47 am: Oh, noes. She’s reading a Maya Angelou poem written for MJ’s death. For realz.

10:48 am: “Walk our dances across the face of the Moon.” “We had him.” “In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh.” Maya Angelous is all about the word play, isn’t she?

10:51 am: Lionel Richie can sing, can’t he? And oddly he looks exactly the same as he did back in 1985. Minus the Jheri Curl, of course. Let your soul flow!

10:53 am: Tomorrow, all of those backup singers are going to have to add “Michael Jackson: The Memorial” to their Myspace pages.

10:53 am: Berry Gordy is all about the cliche.

10:55 am: The photos on the Jumbotron in the background are insane. The one above Gordy right now is MJ doing some crazy leap wearing white knee pads. I mean, really.

10:57 am: Berry Gordy just said that MJ sang better than Smokey Robinson.

10:58 am: Okay, Berry is doing a real eulogy. Mad props.

11:00 am: “He went into orbit and never came down.”

11:00 am: Odds are “questionable decisions on his part” will be the only slightly negative thing said about MJ during this whole event.

11:03 am: Every time someone mentions “King of Pop” or “king” or anything remotely similar… or “He is simply the greatest entertainer who ever lived,” the crowd goes wild. Why do people cheer for superlatives and hyperbole?

11:03 am: That crazy picture stayed up during the whole Berry Gordy eulogy.

11:04 am: This montage is insane. MJ and Bill Clinton. Really?

11:05 am: The dancing is Teh Awesome, though.

11:06 am: Kissing Bubbles. Yes, kissing bubbles.

11:06 am: I really could do without the Christ symbolism.

11:07 am: Speaking of crazy superstars, here’s Stevie Wonder. “God must have needed him far more.”

11:08 am: Is it just me, or are the flowers rather garish?

11:09 am: Wow. What a perfect song for this event: “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer.”

11:14 am: I think he rewrote the song. Since these ain’t the lyrics as I know them. Maybe I’m wrong. Also, maybe Stevie is a little screechy today.

11:15 am: Ya know, yelling out “I love you, Michael” during moments of silence between speakers is just obnoxious. And ostentatious. And narcissistic.

11:16 am: Kobe and Magic. They know from sexual impropriety. Sorry, but true.

11:17 am: So, it’s kinda amazing that MJ is in the Guinness Book of World Records for supporting more charities than any other celebrity.

11:18 am: “Michael, you eat Kentucky Fried Chicken? That made my day; it was the greatest moment of my life.” Magic Johnson, you’re a freak. And your analysis of civil rights is a little weird.

11:21 am: Jennifer Hudson is SO FUCKING AWESOME.

11:22 am: The woman dancing at the First AME Church in LA is wearing a top that makes her look nekkid.

11:23 am: I [heart] JHud’s wacky dancers.

11:24 am: I do love “Will You Be There.” It has, like, 4000 key changes. The recording MJ’s spoken-word part is haunting. I can’t decide if he’s acting the choking-up or is really choking up at his own lyrics.

11:26 am: I think Al Sharpton has been on the Jenny Craig.

11:27 am: Wow, it’s getting really church in here. Though I giggled when he said MJ “pulled up his pants and broke down the color curtain.” Tee hee.

11:29 am: Okay, Sharpton just said that Obama was elected president because MJ was awesome.

11:31 am: Sharpton to MJ’s kids: “There was nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with.” I’m sorry: WHAT? MJ was not normal. He was weird. He was a genius and a great entertainer. But he was weird. What a frickin’ grandstander.

11:34 am: John Mayer plucking away at “Human Nature.” And then the synth comes in. Loudly. Whackadoo.

11:37 am: I change my mind. Not a bad arrangement. The back-up singing with the guitar as lead vocalist is rather nice.

11:38 am: OMG. The brothers are all wearing single glitter gloves. Does anyone else think that this is going to go down as one the oddest funerals ever?

11:39 am: Brooke Shields can barely hold it together. She’s shaking.

11:39 am: “It was the most natural and easiest of friendships.” “We had a bond. And maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very, very young age.” “When we were together, we were too little kids having fun.” He tried to teach her the moonwalk, and failed. They laughed. This is the sweetest, and most honest, moment of this event. Along with the Stevie thing.

11:43 am: “Yes, it may have seemed very odd from the outside.” You don’t say?

11:43 am: “What’s up with the glove?” Apparently, sequins chafe.

11:45 am: I [heart] Brooke Shields. She’s reading from The Little Prince.

11:46 am: She just referred to the third kid as “Blanket.” Good Lord.

11:47 am: Brooke Shields, FTW.

11:49 am: We’re now understanding why Jermaine Jackson never became a big star. And this song bugs. Srsly.

11:52 am: MLK III is a BIG man. And I think Bernice King’s outfit is fabulous.

11:54 am: MLK III is talking too quickly.

11:56 am: Bernice is telling a wonderful story about MJ calling Coretta Scott King as she lay debilitated by a stroke. He said Coretta was the real American royalty.

11:59 am: Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee just said that Congress knows that people are innocent until proven guilty. Er. Really? I mean, they know that. But… well, okay.

12:01 pm: Lee is saying that MJ was “the Good Samaritan.”

12:02 pm: It seems that he lectured 15 African ambassadors about fighting HIV/AIDS. Wow. I didn’t know that.

12:03 pm: I’m being persuaded that Michael Jackson may have been a great man. “Michael fought the good fight.”

12:05 pm: Well, okay. Lee wants the Congress to recognize MJ as a great American. Sure, why not?

12:07 pm: I just saw on the Huff Post that Corey Feldman wore the iconic Thriller era MJ outift to the memorial. I switched to Huff Post because Usher’s “Gone Too Soon” is so boring.

12:11 pm: But I guess the family liked it. Though I gotta wonder why Janet had to carry her purse when she got up to hug Usher. Did she think Tito was going to swipe it? Or, wait, is that Latoya?

12:12 pm: They’re showing footage from Ed Sullivan of MJ doing the Smokey Robinson song that Berry Gordy said MJ did better than Smokey.

12:14 pm: Oh, because Smokey is gonna talk now. He’s pointing out the MJ sang “Who’s Lovin’ You” at age 10 as if he had already lived four times that long.

12:16 pm: Smokey has had so much work done. And he had a long visit with the Botox guy yesterday.

12:16 pm: Smokey, it ain’t all about you.

12:17 pm: “The greatest entertainer of all times.” Times? Hunh? There’s more than one history of the world? Sorry, that sort of crappy grammar just annoys me.

12:19 pm: Who the hell is Shaheen Jafargholi? And why in the world would they choose another child to sing “Who’s Lovin You”? When MJ did it, it was wrong and inappropriate, even if it was brilliant. It’s still wrong and inappropriate, especially with some kid doing an imitation of MJ.

12:21 pm: Oh, he’s a Welsh-Iranian Britain’s Got Talent star. Kenny Ortega’s explaining. Here’s the wiki page.

12:23 pm: Kenny Ortega is claiming that the never-will-happen London concerts were going to be MJ’s triumphant return to the world. Not if you believe this, of course.

12:25 pm: This “We Are the World” number is very American Idol does MJ.

12:26 pm: Oh, noes. It’s a sing along! And Corey Feldman is there. Lolz. [UPDATE: Sorry. It's a lookalike back-up dancer from the JHud number.]

12:27 pm: Love the people in the lawn chairs outside the Staples Center waving their hands along with the song.

12:28 pm: Oh, look. Children! Lots of them!

12:29 pm: “Heal the Word.” It, also, has 4000 key changes.

12:32 pm: The video from Gary, Indiana, is kinda tragic.

12:32 pm: Oh, these kids on stage are ridic. That blonde girl over doing her you-and-me moves is going to see this video in a few years and be mortified.

12:34 pm: Jermaine, it, too, is not about you.

12:35 pm: There’s Jesse Jackson wandering around in the background.

12:36 pm: Honestly, MJ’s kids look really bored.

12:37 pm: One of the brothers is telling a very odd story about catching MJ wearing a wacky homeless-guy disguise. Oh: “Maybe now they will leave you alone.” Very sad. Oh, it was Marlon.

12:38 pm: Wow. Paris speaks. “Best father I could ever imagine.” Guess she wasn’t bored. Sorry.

12:41 pm: “Thank you and good night.” It’s 12:41 pm. Well, I forgive him. It’s dark in there.

12:42 pm: Out goes the golden casket as the band plays “Man in the Mirror.” A spotlight shows on a MJ-less microphone. By the way, he didn’t write that song.

12:47 pm: Rev. Lucious Smith’s closing prayer is rather good, if obvious. This event is supposed to be “a reminder that we, too, can make a change.”

12:50 pm: Back to CNN proper. And AC goes straight to Larry King, who I just loathe. He’s actually reviewing the event as if it was show.

12:52 pm: AC just asked Larry King about what the casket looked like. “Very expensive.” And with that, I’m outa here.

What I did on the 4th of July

2009-07-07T22:09:48Z

Since I have to exert a great deal of effort to feel patriotic — the last time I un-ironically embraced the flag was after 9/11, when I had one sticking out of my messenger bag — I do not get very excited about the 4th of July. We were invited to only one party on the 4th this year, and I couldn’t be bothered to go. That might be because the 3rd of July party we went to resulted in me falling asleep at 9pm and possibly embarrassing myself at 7pm. So, I wasn’t in the mood to socialize the next day. But since I went to bed at 9pm, I got up at 8am. And that meant I had a full day with which to do something. So, I did a lot. Or some.

I had my first cup of coffee while browsing through Facebook and the Times, both of which were full of delicious Sarah Palin bashing. I especially enjoyed Gail Collins’s slam:

“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, only dead fish ‘go with the flow.’ No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time … to BUILD UP.”

Basically, the point was that Palin is quitting as governor because she’s not a quitter. Or a deceased salmon.

Eventually, I ended up in my Netflix queue. Now that I’ve finally declared Lars and the Real Girl “missing,” we’re going to start getting movies again, so I needed to freshen it up a bit. I also was reminded that I have an instant queue, too, and that it works with my Tivo. Though not always well. Well, it didn’t work well in the old place; the wireless connection was somewhat useless, choppy and prone to “loading” notices, so I had to run a cord from the router in the study all the way into the living room to make it work. I decided to test the wireless connection with Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, which I somehow had never seen but which I knew enough about to be an ironic 4th of July choice. I learned two things: The wireless connection is great, and Dr. Strangelove is, yes, actually as good as everyone says it is.

This was my favorite scene. It’s so profoundly ridiculous and yet also sweet, and Sellers’s timing is perfect. I had been chuckling through the movie and then I started cackling here. I was afraid I was going to wake Rob, but he didn’t stir, even during the rather loud machine gun scenes. (He slept til 12:30pm.) I loved how weird and scathing and anti-American and avant garde the movie is, especially for the time. I mean, hello, it lost the Oscar for Best Picture to My Fair Lady, which is silly dreck. The Wikipedia entry has some great details, such as how Sellers based his President Muffley on Adlai Stevenson and improvised Strangelove’s Nazi salute at the end. Also, the end was originally supposed to be a giant pie fight. But it didn’t work out. Sort of like the release date of the film; it was supposed to come out a week after JFK was assassinated, but they thought that would be inappropriate, so they waited a year. I guess that’s sort of patriotic.

After the movie was over, I woke up Rob. I didn’t realize that after I’d fallen asleep, he’d gone out and didn’t get to bed until after 3am. So, sleeping past noon wasn’t totally weird. Still: It was time to get some unpacking done. We had moved all of our things to the new place on June 21, and unpacked all of the books last weekend. We have way too many books. Way, way. This weekend was all about hanging pictures. While Rob gave Hermia a bath — since Hermia, after almost being crushed a by a falling futon and hiding in her litter box after the move and then surprisingly becoming perky and well-behaved and curious about her new home, still gets poop stuck to her backside — and watered the plants and shopped for dinner, I hammered nails into the walls and arranged photos. It took forever, since I kept redoing the composition and transferring pictures from frame to frame. But finally, by 5pm or so, I’d managed to finish the living room and dining room.

We decided to break out the new Weber — thanks, Sarah! — since it was the 4th. Rob grilled sausages and peppers, and he made sauerkraut, since he is so in love with the kraut at the Linkery. I made my white bean salad (that I had also made for the aforementioned 3rd of July party), and we settled onto the couch with a few beers. And we watched Babes in Arms.

God, that movie is so annoying. I saw the theatrical version at the City Center Encores! in 1999 and loved it, but the film version has two main problems: a histrionic and bizarrely Oscar-nominated Mickey Rooney and the absense of the Rodgers and Hart songs that made the show actually good. What’s the point of seeing Babes in Arms if no one sings “My Funny Valentine,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Johnny One Note” and “I Wish I Were in Love Again”? Especially if you’ve got Judy Garland. It’s just bizarre that they cut all of the original songs except for the title song, which is sung during a ridiculous Busby Berkeley-meets-Les Miz march and burn, and “Where or When,” which is sung by the dreadfully boring and soon to be wed Betty Jaynes and Douglas McPhail, the latter of whom was soon to be dead. (Poison.) While the story is touchingly Depression-era uplift, with the kids of down-on-their-luck Vaudeville performers putting on a show to save their families, there are two other Depression-era parts of the film that are difficult to take, to say the least: the horrifying, neverending minstrel show number with both Rooney and Garland in black face (ARGH!) and the closing number, “God’s Country,” which is a paen to nationalism that made me want to barf. The film is patriotic, and in just the way to make me loathe patriotism. I’d provide a video, if either were on Youtube.

That said, there was one lovely number. Judy! Oh, Judy.

4th of Juky dinner [Flickr]

2009-07-05T10:45:52-07:00

giddygoon posted a photo:

4th of Juky dinner [Flickr]

2009-07-05T10:45:46-07:00

giddygoon posted a photo:

P7050020 [Flickr]

2009-07-05T10:45:39-07:00

giddygoon posted a photo:

Tweets for the week of 2009-07-04

2009-07-05T17:30:10Z

can’t decide which boxes to unpack now. #
can’t find the box marked “Gay Anthologies.” Or as the 10-year-old who helped us move this weekend thought it said, “Gay Anti-goggles.” #
is wondering if anyone in the Twitter/FB-verse knows how to fox a gas clothes dryer. #
hopes some elves drop by and fix the dryer while he and Rob are at the OB street fair. http://posted.at/Vu1 #
had not planned on driving around and looking for parking for an hour. #
would give his kingdom for a bag of Cheetos. #
is sad about Billy Mays. He was a bear icon. Heh. ( http://bit.ly/sjCUb ) #
is pondering the classic car show set up outside his window. http://posted.at/D5g #
wants Slap Shot. Badly. ( http://bit.ly/Aa6ks ) #
is appalled but not surprised that Texan cops raided the Rainbow Lounge and beat its patrons. ( http://bit.ly/pAN3O ) #
is teaching tonight. http://posted.at/qUx #
might care about Bernie Madoff if he even had a remote chance of ever having enough money to invest — and then lose. http://posted.at/i4f #
knows how Abigail Breslin feels. ( http://bit.ly/18GuYG ) #
wishes he could develop a taste for tap water. #
is is adding his name to the petition supporting HHS’s decision to end the HIV travel and immigration ban. ( http://bit.ly/h7BQ9 ) #
is amused that Stuart Smalley is finally the next senator from Minnesota. ( http://bit.ly/17XHQl ) #
is annoyed that he has to pay his rent in certified funds. It means monthly visits to the post office to get money orders. #
thinks that if you’re going to be on Adam4Adam at Peet’s, you should at least face your screen away from the sidewalk. #
spent 45 minutes trying to figure out why he was linked from datalounge.com. That site should be renamed gay4chan.com. http://posted.at/5bE #
is contemplating making white-bean salad with zucchini and parmesan for Bret and Eric’s party today. http://posted.at/PJh #
really hopes Sarah Palin will run for president. It will ensure continued domination by the Democrats. http://is.gd/... http://posted.at/Zws #

Tweets for the week of 2009-06-27

2009-06-28T15:24:48Z

http://twitpic.com/7wy30 – thinks Jack might be sad when there aren’t any boxes to play with. #
http://twitpic.com/80ou3 – wishes some would move for him. #
http://twitpic.com/815z2 – loves Tetris. #
http://twitpic.com/824cq – probably shouldn’t have left Betsy alone with the Bounty. #
http://twitpic.com/82cm5 – wonders where Betsy will hide in the new place. #
hates Wal-Mart. #
thinks it’s rather perfectly perfect that digital reception on the TVs at the Time Warner Cable office is crap. #
is watching a mom playing softball with her three kids in Azalea Park. Based on her excellent pitching, chances are she’s family. #
wonders how long he can go without eating today. #
thinks Perez Hilton may be bitchy and crass, but no one deserves to be beaten for being bitchy and crass. No one. #
needs some AAA batteries. Right now! #
thinks it’s kinda hilarious that McCain once thought of naming Gov. Sanford as his VP pick. Ha. #
was about to dry his wet laundry when he saw a Post-It note on the *inside* of the dryer door that said “dryer broken.” Can we borrow yours? #
is really distracted by the giant hole in Philip’s pants. #
lit a candle for Farrah Fawcett … or rather for a box of her doll heads: http://is.gd/1dkhz #
can’t remember a double whammy like this since the Princess Di / Mother Teresa clusterfuck of 1997. #
just read the Popbitch tribute to Michael Jackson, which is so very, very wrong. http://is.gd/1eAXq #
is listening to really old Michael Jackson — “Got to Be There” — and wishes he could reach out and save him from what was going to come. #
wishes that “Liberian Girl” had different lyrics and a different title. #michaeljackson #
[hearts] the key changes in “Man in the Mirror.” A lovely song becomes EPIC. #michaeljackson #
is with the Penguins Twins at Mo’s. #

Tweets for the week of 2009-06-20

2009-06-23T19:57:09Z

http://twitpic.com/7aghv – got Rob on the Betty Mo-bile. Whee! #
is happy that it’s raining on the fucking Minute Men outside Home Depot. #
http://twitpic.com/7b9z2 – is packing; Jack is enjoying new places to hide. #
is completely disturbed by what is going on in Tehran and Iran. #Tiananmen2 #
is drinking wine at Eduardo’s salon. #
is extremely excited about the pozole he just ordered. #
is packing. Ack. #
wants to know why the post office makes him want to commit random acts of violence. #
knows what it is. It’s the frakking idiots in line. #
cannot believe that he had to okay a turnitin.com request for a 1% match. Seriously? 1%? #
is wondering why Fareed Zakaria GPS wants to be my friend. #
is going back to Weight Watchers. Cuz he sucks. #
has hives. Again. So frakking annoying. #
hopes he didn’t overload the car. #
thinks Mary Murphy is Zicam for the ears. #
is remembering how terrible — TERRIBLE — Bank of America is. In all ways. #
wishes he could start humming and 4,000 forest creatures and/or urban pests would do all his packing for him. http://is.gd/15wO8 #
Show support for democracy in Iran add green overlay to your Twitter avatar with 1-click – http://helpiranelection.com/ #
just agreed to be the coordinator for the San Diego chapter of the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus. #
just heard Rob say, “I’m throwing out the dresses but saving the baby.” #
I, of course, forgot the four key pieces of the red cabinet. Blarg. #
now has internet access in his new home. Woot! #

I am qualified, whatever that means. Also, I’m 35. And we’re moving.

2009-07-07T21:16:51Z

If you’ve been following my micro-blogging (also known as tweets or Facebook updates), you know that the big events of last three weeks for me have been, well, the stuff comprising the title of this post. Needless to say (but I’ll write it anyway), I’ve been a little stressed out. Also, exhilarated. And exhausted.

Anyway, I’ll do this recap in chronological order.

The last weekend in May, Rob and I flew to Cincinnati to celebrate my mother’s 70th birthday. (To the left, that’s us singing to her and my aunt.) Her actual birthday was June 3, but the previous weekend was the most convenient time for all of us. Coincidentally, my birthday was that Sunday. (It’s May 31. Mark your calendars for future reference.) Actually, it hasn’t been coincidental since I was born; now it’s just convenient. Either way, it was a celebration of my mom’s and her twin’s 70th and an acknowledgment my 35th, as it should be, since 35 is nice, but 70 is impressive, especially since we should all be so lucky to be at 70 as happy, healthy, energetic, and wise as my mom and my aunt are. Though I hope my hearing will be better than theirs is. Note to self: Turn down my iPod.

Presents I got:

A grill and a grill brush from my cousin Sarah. W00t!
My brother and sister-in-law got me fantabulous headphones for the…
…new, expansive iPod that Rob (and I) gave me.
Socks labeled with the days of the week from Rob. They’re awesome, except when I can’t find Tuesdays socks when it’s Tuesday.
The Overflowing of Friendship: The Overflowing of Friendship: Love between Men and the Creation of the American Republic and Cathedral Cats from my aunt. I love gay books about pre-gay times. Also, cats.

The weekend was pretty wonderful. In addition to getting quality time with my mom and aunt, we got to hang out with my cousin Sarah and my brother and his wife. We ate crazy delicious food — which included not only my mom’s and brother’s great cooking, but also Graeter’s Ice Cream and Skyline Chili — had vigorous political discussions, saw old friends, went for lovely walks in the lush Cincinnati summer, ate all the hors d’oeuvres before the guests arrived for dinner, and, when the older ladies weren’t around, the 30somethings laughed ourselves silly making crude jokes.

We also laughed ourselves silly when I tried to explain “cubs” to my mom. I said that a cub was a young bear, a thin bear, or a bear who, well, is a bottom. Ha. Yes, it was after a few glasses of wine. Anyway, mom asked what a bottom was. So, my brother and I explained. Mom: “I thought you guys just took turns.” Me: “Some of us do.” Mom: “I have to go brush my teeth.” Good times, good times.

One of the best parts of the whole Cincinnati experience was flying there nonstop. Granted, the reason this is now possible is the Delta-Northwest merger, which has caused utter chaos at the San Diego airport. Nevertheless, door to door, San Diego to my mom’s apartment, is now five hours instead of ten. Yay.

Once we returned to San Diego, I had to buckle down and prepare for the defense of my fieldwork proposal. I made up a bunch of potential questions from my six committee, added some from my friend Whitney (who was ruthless), and then tried to figure out how I would answer them. And then I spent the day before the defense putting together a PowerPoint presentation on my project. I used that picture to the left as my opener.

I didn’t get particularly nervous until about an hour before the meeting. At that point, I started imagining that I would be the only person in memory to fail my defense, or I piss my pants and not notice, or one of my committee members would quit at the lat minute, or a stray plane from Miramar would crash into the building, or I would say something outrageously crazy, such as “Oh, yeah, medicine is totally culturally constructed. Like, ya know, HAART only works because we were told by the government that it does.” Of course, none of that happened. A couple committee members were late, and I worried that I offended someone by not offering refreshments beyond water (a break with tradition, as many of my predecessors have catered their defenses with cuisine of the their field site, which I find problemtaic both power-relations-wise and meth-heads-don’t-eat-wise). And while my husband, my San Diego bestie, and one of my favorite fellow PhD students were there, I was a little nervous that my peanut gallery was under-populated. Did the folks who weren’t there know something that I didn’t?

Anyway, here’s the abstract for my proposal:

While San Diego is no longer considered the “crystal meth capital” of the United States, meth use in “America’s Finest City” is still a major concern for public health, law enforcement, and community leaders. This is particularly so in the gay community, which has seen the drug implicated in increased HIV infections and other physical, mental, and social problems. Institutional efforts to prevent and stop meth use among gay men have included multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, while the more subtle cultural response has been to stigmatize and ostracize meth users. The stigma of being a meth addict is often added to the stigma of being HIV+. In America’s gay communities, meth addiction and HIV/AIDS comprise “a double epidemic,” in both biomedical and cultural terms. The current era of biomedicalization encourages people to focus intensively on risk to oneself and to one’s community. This doubling of risk has encouraged the government, biomedicine, pop culture, and San Diego’s gay community to isolate gay HIV+ crystal meth users as culturally radioactive, physically infectious, and logically impaired. This dissertation project will focus on this experience – on the subjectivity of HIV+ gay crystal meth users. Through person-centered ethnography and participant observation, this study will describe the complex workings of discourses of health, rationality, gayness, and Americanism as they help to shape the lived experience of these risky subjects.

But it went well, for the most part. I felt as if I answer the questions well, and articulately, and the peanut gallery agreed. Or they lied, though I feel I would have noticed them lying. Or not. I was a little out of it. Partly, I was out of it because it was, of course, stressful being smart on command. Partly, I was out of it because I was asked some questions that, while I could answer them easily, I shouldn’t have had to, since they were answered in my proposal. Partly, I was out of it because I was asked to write up a more specific methodology, which, in the moment, made me feel like I’d been asked to retake the SATs because I blew them the first time. (This was a rather large overreaction. Revising and specifying your methodology seems to be part of being a researcher.) The next day, I was asked how it felt to be “qualified,” and I said, “Not as good as it should.” And my friend said, “It feels anti-climactic and frustrating, right?” Right.

But, hey, now I can say I’m C.Phil — a Candidate of Philosophy. That night we went down to Baja Betty’s to celebrate and I had too many margaritas.

The next day, I started looking for a new home in earnest. If it wasn’t for the relentless scammers and overposters on Craigslist, the process would have been quite easy. Well, that implies that it took a while to find a place. We saw three places in three days. We applied for two — an adorable house in Normal Heights and an adorable and gorgeous and dishwasher-included house in Azalea Park. We were approved for both, and took the latter. (See pic to the left.) It’s a wee bit smaller than our current apartment, but it has the following benefits:

It’s not in the soul-less UTC.
It’s in a very gay neighborhood where we are unlikely to have “FAG” keyed onto our cars.
It has hardwood floors, not the ugliest carpet to ever to be known by man or woman.
A dishwasher!
A washer and dryer. For, ya know, clothes. For free.
It has green walls! Not poo-brown walls.
A yard. A yard!!! It’s little, but it’s ours.
A garage. Ha!
A jacuzzi bath tub. Ha!
There’s a downstairs neighbor, who may or may not have issues with people walking around upstairs. But he’s moving next week. We need a cool downstairs neighbor. It’s a HUGE and gorgeous one-bedroom with a huge and gorgeous backyard.

Of course, now we have to pack and move. How did we end up with so much crap?

Tweets for the week of 2009-06-13

2009-06-23T20:10:45Z

is amazed that there’s a new Care Bears movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902265/ #
and Rob applied for another place, and they REALLY want this one. Like crazy. #
has way too many programs running on his laptop right now. #
is listening to Rob blow-dry Hermia. #
http://twitpic.com/6vnys – [hearts] the gays. #
loves that he gets to see Jason Cooper every five minutes on the Tonys. #
would like to be on any boat that Mary Testa was rocking. (God, he’s SO gay.) #
[hearts] Carrie Fisher and her giant fatness. #
thought the “Next to Normal” performance was pretty damn awesome. #
loves it when the old gays dye their hair and get their lifetime achievement Tonys. #
likes it whenever someone from “Sideshow” wins a Tony, even when they’re fucking crazy. #
would like someone to throw him some methodology citations. Thanks. #
wishes he knew why his spellchecker suddenly started working again. #
got the apartment! http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/apa/1208655093.html #
and Rob just signed the lease. That was fast. #
is at Camp Pendleton. #
is discussing Diva Cups at Camp Pendleton: http://www.divacup.com #
http://twitpic.com/6xyss – is still at Camp Pendleton. #
is all about the Jell-O. #
wishes he’d thought through this whole moving thing a little more clearly. We have to do WHAT in HOW MANY DAYS and pay HOW MUCH?! #
is done grading for the quarter, and now he’s mentally preparing for the forum on that darn hate crime. #
is trying to push out some words that vaguely resemble a hypothesis. So, so, so sick of this. #
and Rob just watched “The Running Man.” Rob correctly identified both the composer and choreographer instantly: John Parr and Paula Abdul. #
doesn’t understand how an unsubscribing from an email list can take “10 days to process.” #
wants to know why Margaret Thatcher breaking her arm is the lead story on the Internet Movie Database: http://is.gd/ZWbW. #
is at Monica’s listening to two people discussing their preferred methods of spirit summoning. #
is relaxing at Peet’s. He’s not going to think about meth today. Well, yes he is. But not in a deadline-ish way. #
is quite certain that Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” is one of the greatest songs of the decade. #
is sitting next to two guys who are so, so having an Adam4Adam date. #
is trying to persuade Rob to take the Betty Mo-bile with him. Rob wrongly thinks it will be embarassing. #

Tweets for the week of 2009-06-06

2009-06-23T20:31:05Z

is at Kroger’s. #
http://twitpic.com/69wk0 – is having a three-way at Skyline Chili. #
hopes that Rob signs his Mom’s 70th birthday card, “When you’re 100, I’ll be 70!” #
is wearing his new socks. #
is at Lookout Joe’s, the local hangout for girls who would kill to be extras on “92010.” #
http://twitpic.com/6d1d8 – loves the deep-fried pickles. #
is back in not-so-sunny San Diego. #
was just dive-bombed by a small, angry black bird. #
wonders if Dr. Dre can have any street cred after doing Dr. Pepper ads. #
can’t believe people care more about marriage than about saving the lives of those who depend upon ADAP for their HIV meds. (RT @dammitjim) #
has 22 more hours to prepare for his proposal defense. #
is at Twiggs. #
doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. #
is almost done with the PowerPoint. #
is Phil. C. Phil. #
hopes this is more clear: He’s a PhD candidate. #
just applied to rent a wayyy cute house in Normal Heights. #
wished Tivo Desktop actually worked. #
is shocked — shocked, he tells you — that all of his students actually turned in their papers on time, more or less. #