Hot Boyfriend Blog

First, the good news.  My favorite political comedian, Al Franken, announced he is running for Senator of Minnesota.  Also, one of my favorite bloggers, Shakesspeare's Sister, has become the netroots coordinator for John Edward's (my favorite candidate of the moment) presidential campaign.  These two things are very cool and exciting indeed.

Now for the bad news. Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins passed away yesterday after a bout with breast cancer.  She was 62.  This news overshadows the other items and makes it a sad day overall. 

I always looked forward to Molly's columns at alternet.org.  Her writing made you think, laugh, cry and get angry--sometimes all at once.  I'll always think of her as the anti-Bush.  She was from the same state as our Incompetent-in-Chief, George Bush, but she embodied the intelligence, sense of humor, grace, and compassion that is so lacking in the current administration. 

Bush made me hate Texas (even though he is actually from Connecticut) while Molly made me love the state (I loved her Texas accent). Shrub, as she liked to refer to Bush, will never live up to the character that was Molly Ivins, much less be able to comprehend why her character was so great.

So with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face (in remembrance of her inner and outer beauty), I bid Molly Ivins a sad/funny/angry/hopeful adieu.  Bye Molly.  May the Flying Spaghetti Monster keep you in his loving embrace for eternity.

HB

p.s. Do yourself a favor and go read some of Molly's great work for yourself here.  I don't want to single out any of the articles--all of them are wonderful. 

I am: William Gibson The chief instigator of the "cyberpunk" wave of the 1980s, his razzle-dazzle futuristic intrigues were, for a while, the most imitated work in science fiction.

Which science fiction writer are you?

Here's the lowdown on the loot I got for Xmas:

• A dremel
• A set of awesome dremel attachments
• A dremel stand for exacting dremeling
• A DVD of "Another Gay Movie"
• A Blue Book Directory of Democrat-friendly businesses
• A $25 Target gift certificate
• A George-Bush-is-an-idiot Calendar
• An animal skull (not real) of some sort (this was for the fish aquarium, I think)
• A stocking full of sugar-free candy (Diabetes safe), toothbrushes, travel games, pens, ornaments, and various sundries

Not bad.  I hope I didn't leave anything out. I've had bigger years, dollar-wise, but the dremel is awesomeness, so I'm a happy geek.

If you want to list your Xmas haul in the comments, feel free.

HB 

We had a closet shelf collapse Friday so this Saturday was spent putting in closet units – it turned out really nice, but cost almost $300. Mitchell construction that did our bathrooms and closet sucks ass. Sunday, the lights in the closet started going out and also in the bathroom. I guess they’re all on the same circuit. Now the switches are turning on the wrong lights. You have to get the right combination of light switches on and off to get lights to work. They are also dimming and flickering a lot and making cute little bzzzzt noises. Jim is calling an electrician right now from work. That’ll probably cost us a couple more hundred. Mitchell Construction should be condemned to the deepest dankest smoldering corner of Hell.

[UPDATE] The electrician came Tuesday and found the problem. It was a short in one of the light switches. He then informed us that the wiring was aluminum instead of copper. Some people at work have been telling me that aluminum wiring is illegal. I'll have to check into this further.

Sunday morning, my blood sugar got below 60 and I started freaking out. I just found out a little over a week ago that I had the disease. For those not in the diabetic know, you start getting sick if your blood sugar levels get too low. I took some glucose pills and tried calling my doctor but he wasn’t in and his exchange service didn’t pick up. So on my own I became Dr. Hot Boyfriend M.D. and prescribed myself a reduction in my dosage from 150 to 100 units of insulin for my daily morning shot. Since that is what I figured was the cause.

My sugar spiked to 180 after breakfast, but then leveled off to normal for the rest of the day. I had a doctor appointment with my actual doctor Monday morning so I told him all about it and he said I probably should not have reduced my dosage that much all at once. Increments of 10 would probably be better and that I should call him before doing anything like that (and he will make sure his phone service gets fixed--he damn well better). After reviewing my blood sugar numbers for Sunday, he said 100 units should be about right and to keep it there as long as my numbers are good--yay.

Sunday after lunch PQ and I went to Aqua World (the best aquarium store in the St. Louis area) and bought a humongous 55-gallon aquarium for no reason. We’ll get it in about a week and set it up...um, somewhere. I think we've decided to go with freshwater fish. Although marine/saltwater fish can be breathtakingly beautiful, maintenance is a bitch--and those splendidly colorful marine fish are hella-expensive. You can expect pictures soon, I'm sure.

HB

I'm at work and my cubicle is HOT. I've got 3 computers going in a 10'x10' space. The tic marks after the 10s mean feet for all you non-carpenter types. Yea, I'm getting all wood-superior and snooty since I've been working on my kitchen. The breakfast bar is turning out hella-cool. The absence of wallpaper is sweet, and the new floor tile (peel-and-stick bitches) looks marble-ous. We were replacing the ceiling fan with a different fixture. Being a man, I didn't read the instructions on how to put the glass globe in and started pounding it into the ring that holds it with the heel of my hand to kind of jam it into place. Well, it broke. Then I read the instructions which informed me I was supposed to simply twist it smoothly into the ring. So off to Lowe's with PQ and I to get a new fixture. We found this cool track light fixture that's way cooler than the busted one so happy ending.

Anyways, it's hot at my desk. It's hot outdoors, it's hot in my house. It's just hot, hot, hot. The lights went out again this Saturday during a hellacious lightning storm. PQ and I were bemoaning the possibility of another blackout with sweaty nights of un-airconditioned insomnia (last week our power went out for 4 nights from hell). Being selfish fags, we left Spike to fend for himself in the dark while we went out to find a place to eat. After dinner, we went to see Clerks II at the local megaplex. The movie was okay for the most part with a few laughs. The dialog was a little homophobic in parts, however, and PQ was upset about the use of the n-word even though it was used to make a point and not as a racial slur. PQ just hates that word so much that just the sound of it triggers some sort of reflexive "anger at the man" in him. Gotta love him. So the electric came on while we were at the movies. I know this because PQ called home right after the movie and our answering machine (being electric) picked up - free tip from HB for ya. Clever, huh?

So we come back home to artificially-cooled-air bliss. Spike berated us with a few barks for leaving him. Then he wagged his tail furiously as we apologized with generous scritches to his fur. No more kitchen work that night, but we got a lot done Sunday. Most of the floor tile still needs to be done, but that's about it. I should have some pictures up soon. I know you can't wait to see them.

HB

I'm one of the 500 thousand+ victoms of the storm that crashed through St. Louis Wednesday. No electric so no air conditioning. It's HOT in the house. 40 hours and counting. PQ and I (along with Spike) are trying our best to get through this. Kitchen remodelling has come to a screeching halt. Who wants to hammer and saw while sweating profusely? The sawdust sticks to your sweaty skin and you start to stink real quick.

Nothing to do. No TV, computer, or video games (although we have the PSP until the battery runs down). PQ took the Spike for a ride in the car this morning just to use the air conditioner and cool down. PQ is trying to keep occupied by doing word search puzzles - we're that desperate.

There's a big ol' limb in our front yard that fell off our sweetgum tree during the storm. It needs to be cleaned up, but who wants to work and sweat outside in the heat when you can't go inside to cool off. We threw out most of the food from the fridge and freezer this morning -- that was depressing. We are having to go out to eat every meal.

Being hot and sweaty is exhausting. How did people live before air conditioners? Global warming is a myth, my ASS.

HB

Hey! I've reached 1000 visits! I'm bloggin' with the big-time bloggers now. Guess I can retire now and just live off the prestige. Thanks for stopping by and I'll try to remember who my old friends were.

HB

Hey! I just thought of something to talk about. Why is it that the rightwing control nuts are all sexual perverts who want us to be perverse like them? Take the reverend Sun Myung Moon, the owner of the Washington Times:
Ewwwww!

This is from an article by John Gorenfeld on AlterNet - a great site for insightful politics. (I love Molly Ivens). Why are Republicans so obsessed with sex? And have you heard the new official White House policy on sex? According to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
And later it goes on to say:
Aw man! I'm gay and so I can't be married according to this. So, I can never ever have sex. Wait, oops, I already did. I never was very good at paying attention in class. And as for you single heteros, hold your virginity high and proud. I'm not sure what to say to the divorcees - the guidelines aren't exactly clear on that.

Thanks to Pam's House Blend for the info.

HB

Here's my new blog! Most entries will probably be a self-indulgent stream of consciousness that will bore everyone. I have opinions however, and they are the correct ones. Okay, I'm tired of this already. That didn't last long. I'll just put the ubiquitous excuse of "under construction" on this first post and leave it at that. See you in the blogosphere (if I have nothing better to do).

HB