Call Your Girlfriend

Call your girlfriend

It's time you had the talk

Give your reasons

Say it's not her fault

I totally love that Robyn song.

First I loved "Dancing on my Own." Then I loved "Hang With Me." And then I broke down and bought her album. And then I was hooked on Fembot. Call Your Girlfriend. And Indestructible. Totally an amazing album.

LawyerX and I saw her in concert last summer with Kelis. Kelis was okay, but Robyn rocked the house. A short little swedish pixie she was going a 100 miles per hour and just bouncing around that stage like you just can't believe. Such a good time.

Well as I was checking out Jimbo's blog, I saw he was going to see Robyn in Bmore. Really? So I quickly checked and there were tickets still available. Score!!

So there I was. On a Tuesday night. Heading to a concert. On a school night! What a rebel! But it was so much fun. I convinced a good friend of mine from work to go with my since LawyerX had to work. We got up there in time to see the opening act: Diamond Rings? OMG. Just say no. Here's this power twink in gold lame tights prancing around the stage and doing these weird "fight the power" fist pumps. Again. No. Please. No.

But Robyn was amazing. I think it was the exact same show as last summer, but now I knew more of the songs and I think my friend was more than a little bit amused by my singing/dancing to the music. But it was such a great night. We bailed right at the end of the last song and made it back to DC just after 1230. Needless to say I was tired the next day, but so much fun.

And Robyn is opening for Katy Perry this summer and LawyerX has already gotten us tickets. So I'll get to see Robyn again then. In the meantime, I'm totally jones-ing for a "Call Your Girlfriend" remix.

Robyn and Diex Du Stade

So if you haven't bought Robyn's last album, you are missing out on some of the best music around. It's like candy for the ears, with kickin beats and some really catchy lyrics. I'm particularly in love with "Call Your Girlfriend". But it's all good. And I've got a great "Dancing On My Own" & Glee "Teenage Dream" mash up video on heavy rotation for my gym workouts. Such good music. I'm thinking of adding this one to my iPad, but I'm not sure if it's really appropriate for my SECG.

Speaking of not appropriate, I've been adding new work out routines to my fitness app on my iPad based on the workout in Jackie Warner's book. It's cool that you can add exercises to the app, but you have to put a photo in as well that demonstrates how the exercise is supposed to be performed. But I don't have that. So I've been putting in some aspirational photos that have nothing to do with the workout, but definitely are motivating me. Like this:

Hello gorgeous! He's in this year's Dieux Du Stade calendar. "Dieux Du Stade" is French for: hot, mostly naked, rugby players. Or something like that.

Corey Hart - The Singles?

I'm having some built-in bookshelves built in my condo and so I needed to clean out the little glass shelves where the built-ins will go. The little glass shelves that hold the hundreds of CDs I own that I rarely, if ever, listen to. So I put then all in a suitcase and will dust them off and put them back into the new bookshelves once they are built. But then I started thinking, hmm, I wonder if I should burn the one or two songs I like from each CD to my PC and then junk the CD. I grabbed a handful of CDs and what did I get? The Best of Howard Jones. Go West - The Hits. The Best of Don Henley. And Corey Hart - The Singles.

Really? Corey Hart - The Singles. As in plural? I was intrigued so I popped in the CD and started to listen to it. So I will admit that I recognized two or three songs. So yes, I guess there is a plural there. The songs are burned, and the CD is trash.

Here's an interesting remix of Corey Hart's bit hit:

Diet Vodka and Circuit Thugs

So Museum Man and I went to Bear Happy Hour on Friday at Cobalt. I'm going for the pirate look as Mom calls it, so I might as well put the scruff to some good use. The weather was amazing so we hung out on the outside patio a bit. I had to teach the oh-so-cute, but oh-so-young bartender how to make a Key West Lemonade. Which were D-licious! But then to thank us for teaching him a new drink, he started charging us almost nothing for our drinks. And that was not a good thing. In addition to the fact that someone needs to come up with a Diet Vodka (and seriously, imagine the BILLIONS you could make with that!), I'm a lightweight. So three drinks later, I'm three sheets to the wind. Go figure. Especially since the lunch I ate so many hours early was quite petite. I really do need to pace myself and maybe mix in some non-alcoholic drinks every once in awhile. Needless to say I was feeling no pain and had a good time. I did manage to finagle a kiss the very hunky, scruffy guy who lives across the street from me. It was just a peck, but still. After a long night that included pulling a Kate Moss (the bulimia, not the drugs), I woke with a huge hangover. Really? Three drinks. Praying to the porcelain god. And I still wake up with a hangover. Ugh! I'm a such a lightweight.

Saturday evening, Museum Man and I ventured out dressed in red to the main Cherry event at the 9:30 club. Yes, I'm in my 40s and going to a circuit party. But I was definitely not the oldest there, or the fattest. So there! Anyways we get there a bit early and nurse some beverages (beers, drunk slowly!) until it starts to get hopping. The music is okay. A couple of good songs, but it was really all about the people watching. Now I'm used to the typical attendees at the circuit party. You've got your regulation twinks (young, thin, usually chemically enhanced for the evening) and then you've got your muscle boys (I'd like a double steriod latte!). And the rest of the melange across the gay community. And for the most part, everyone is in a good mood. Drinking, dancing, letting the music carry them to where ever they want to go. But I think I've seen the first of a new breed of circuit guys: circuit thugs. There were about seven or eight of them, heavily muscled, wearing hip hop type clothes, and the big trucker hats a little to the side (which I thought were so 2006!). But they seemed to walk the crowd with a barely submerged sense or aura of violence, like a roid rage was just an accidental bump away. And of course they were absurdly hot. But I'm not sure it was in a good way.

I think we made it till 3AM, and then called it quits. Cherry was the first circuit party I went to after I cam out and after I had returned from Australia and the huge Mardi Gras party there. It was held at the Post Office Pavillion then and Circuit Mom performed. Well Circuit Mom performed at Cherry as well to Idena Menzel's Gorgeous. And now it's my new favorite song. Enjoy!

This Vacation Has Been Rated PG-13

So I'm hanging from a zip line careening down the side of a mountain under a jungle canopy. It's taken a couple of boat rides, including a zodiac ride across the bay of Puerto Vallarta, a really bumpy truck ride to the base camp, and then a mule ride to the top of the mountain to begin the journey back down, which will include zip lining into pool of water and rappelling down a cliff next to a waterfall. And I'm thinking that this vacation really is PG-13. And I think that because of the two girls who are ahead of me who are just precious. And yes this is a gay vacation, and I do mean girls, not gurls. One of them is here with her father, and her friend is tagging along as well. And I think it is awesome that they are here with their father and his partner. They are both 20ish, and just too cute for words. Actually it's kind of funny to see the straight tour guides work the two girls hard, just outrageously flirting with them, and then they completely get flustered when one of the boys tries to flirt with them.

So back to my PG-13 meme. Look, it's never going to be G. We are talking about a resort full of gay men. But the resort is not clothing optional, so no bare asses just hanging out. Which is not to say that there isn't plenty of skin. And quality skin at that. Really, if you want to go to a resort and see guys in speedos and square cut bathing suits, you want to go to one that's chock full of gays. Because just demographically I think we can pull it off a lot better that a resort full of straight folks. Not to say that we didn't have a small portion of bears with us, but really, the gays invented the Adonis complex years ago. As GreekBoi said as he looked around the pool, it's like an Ang Lee movie: "The dialogue is weak, but the scenery is just fabulous." Speaking of dialogue, sure there's some language, mainly the F-bomb, and some same sex PDA, but we're talking holding hands and kissing, nothing too wild and crazy. And I'm assuming that since both of the girls are in college, they've seen wilder. Of course this isn't to say that haven't been some late night "eXXXtracurricular" activities in the hot tub or on the beach, but nothing lurid or scandalous during normal hours. So basically it's PG-13.

Of course I didn't get the memo from Gay HQ that cockrings aren't just for evening wear any more. There were a lot of men who were putting their packages out for inspection by using a cockring under their bathing suits. Talk about not leaving a lot to the imagination. And while Abercrombie and Fitch is still the #1 age inappropriate clothing line, I think Hollister is coming up a close second. If this trend continues, in a couple of years men over 40 will be sporting too tight tee shirts from Sandbox Couture. Oh, and mangrooming is still the rage. I was chatting with D from LA who had a very nice chest and asked if he was naturally smooth. And he said of course, everyone in LA is naturally smooth, naturally tan, and naturally has white teeth. I really do hope his eyes were naturally blue. They were great. Now having said all of this, it was definitely not a resort full of perfect gay Ken dolls. The guy who won the best tan line contest was actually over 40, didn't have a size 30 waist, but he did have a great tan line and just seemed like a nice guy in general. So we had guys in all shapes and sizes. Oh, and we had two lesbians with us. Love them. And the funny thing is after two weeks of gay men, then next group coming in to the resort was from Olivia. We'll get back to that in a few moments.

The resort was great. A very nice large pool, great beach with little palapas for shade, several restaurants, and the rooms were fantastic. This beat the Atlantis Cancun trip in 2005 hands down! Like the Cancun trip, the pace was a bit slower than on a cruise. Which was good for me as I was having some minor issues all week (headaches, weird heartburn, etc) which I think was mainly related to coming off the cytomil. Again the group was very diverse from a body shape perspective to an age range. And like Malcom (the Altantis MC) said, "This is an attitude free" zone. And it really was. Having said that, there was one guy there who apparently lied about his age. If he's 22, then I'm 23. He was a complete hottie who I think was 17! And there was a persistent rumor that he was there "working." I think I saw him and the potential sugar daddy at the White Party getting a bit touchy feely, but I could be wrong. However, that is one way to make sure you have a "good time" on vacation.

Speaking of "fun", apparently there were a lot of people "working out", "taking naps" and oh I just need to "get out of the sun for while." But between being tired a lot, the headaches, etc, I didn't have as much "fun" as I would like. And there, I think I've completely over-used the quotation marks to imply sex. I did dance a bit and really enjoyed that. But mainly at the t dances as the late night parties were too much for me. I did a quick walk through the 80s party when it started at 11PM and that looked like fun, but I was just wiped out. And I did take a good alcohol & food induced disco nap for the White Party, but that really only got me to 130AM or so. Definitely not the early morning hours which is when it usually ends. Speaking of, I need a new white party outfit. My choker white uniform is getting old. And I can barely fit into it.

Greekboi and I both tried to take some personal photos, but not so much. So I'm declaring a photo moratorium on any new pictures of me until I look like this:
Really, I'm doing this for you. (okay, maybe not like that exactly, but less like a beached whale).

The last night was amazing. I heard a new song that's on my must list called Goodnight Tonight. I've ordered it off PerfectBeat so I should have it added to my dance collection by the end of the week. And we had the a perfect sunset as well. As the sun slowly slid into the Pacific, the sarongs came off as people dashed into the ocean for a quick skinny dip. It was great fun, but I did not participate. Maybe next time. Which I think there will be. I really liked the resort, and getting away for a little beach action before winter starts sounds pretty good. And I'm starting to know more people from these groups, so that's fun as well. We had a nice Italian dinner next to the water and then caught Shann Carr's show. She's going to be leaving Atlantis soon and I think her last show will be the March cruise which GreekBoi and I are signed up for. She'll definitely leave some big shoes to fill for Atlantis.

Sadly, I need to go grab some dinner and then start to work. I alteast need to read my email before I walk in the office tomorrow. And this is the week I start round two of the thyroid treatments. So more fun. Adios for now!

The city streets are wet again with rain

But I'm walkin' just the same
Skies turn to the usual grey
When you turn to face the day
And love don't show up in the pavement cracks
All my water colours fade to black
I'm goin' nowhere and I'm ten steps back
All my dreams have fallen flat

So if you don't recognize the song, it's Pavement Cracks by Annie Lennox. The PI Princess and I went to see her Thursday night at GW's Listner Auditorium and it was really a great concert. I love the Listner because it's a smaller, more intimate venue and even though we were in the nose bleed section I still thought we could see pretty well.

After the first song, I turned to the PI Princess and joked, "Well she's no Britney Spears." And I couldn't have been more correct. Boney thin and angular, pale with short blond hair, she looks for amazing for her age. And while she really can't dance, that's not why you are there. This isn't a concert you go to for a "show". This is the concert you go to "listen" to the music. And her voice was just amazing.

When she started to sing Pavement Cracks, I started to get chills up my spine.



She rules.

Erase Hate

So Sunday I drove out to Merriweather Post Pavillion to go see the True Colors concert. First I have to say, that even though it takes a while to drive there (50 minutes-ish), I was flying the whole time. Not stuck in bumper to bumper traffic like if you head out to the Nissan Pavillion. That place just blows. Now normally I avoid outside concerts, especially in the summer, because the thought of being jammed packed into some venue with everyone reeking of the beer sweating out of their bodies just makes me ill. And trust me, I smelled it Sunday night. But I managed to block it.

In addition to it being a good cause, HRC and PFLAG, I was really excited to see Erasure. Sure Margaret Cho was funny. As was Rosie O'Donnell. And The Gossip rocked pretty hard. But the Dresden Dolls and Debbie Harry? Ugh, pass. And we had Rufus Wainwright. I'm just not sure about him. But the main attraction for me was Erasure.

Erasure is one of the four music groups that I listened to in my formative years. The others? Pet Shop Boys. New Order. And Depeche Mode. New wave was the fall back for those who couldn't go all the way into the goth world. It was kind of like Goth-lite and was more socially acceptable to be into New Wave, as opposed to Goth. Plus with most of the New Wave artists being British, you could sort of cling to that. Oh, it's not gay, it's British.

Yep, New Wave was where the shy, not yet out, pre-gays could hang out. And I remember dancing at the Odyssey in Colorado Springs on New Wave Thursday nights. My parents could never understand why I would go out on a Thursday night, but not on the weekends.
Looking back it was all kind of amusing.

The funny thing is that at first I didn't even know that Erasure was gay. When I was in the Navy in Japan I heard about them playing in Tokyo, so I managed to get a ticket and rode the train up to see them. After getting lost in a part of Tokyo I had never been to before, and begging directions in my pidgin Japanese, I made it to the concert. Surrounded by an interesting mix of Japanese and expats in Tokyo, we watched as Andy Bell strutted out onto the stage wearing big feather wings, a golden harness across his chest, and gold hot pants that included a gigantic horn that jutted out from his crotch. Yep. He's gay. But the music was amazing and I had a great time.

Sunday night brought all of that back. They only played about six or seven songs, but I think I knew every one, and I especially like their new song: "I Could Fall In Love With You." But I think I'll leave you with "Hideaway". Enjoy!

Post Pride Ponderings Brought To You By The Letter "P"

So my weekend was as expected, slightly disappointing with a couple of redeeming points.

The call to the parental units went okay. I had to tell my Dad twice that I wanted to speak to him and Mom at the same time. They don't play on the phone together nicely. There was no histrionics, but lots of concern. And I'll probably have Mom come out whenever I have to go under the knife.

I had really wanted to go out dancing Friday night, but I got told by TwigBoy that BeBar has a microscopic dance floor, and then the rain came, and staying home and nursing my depression sounded so much better.

Saturday, after the gym and a little pool time, I had a Pre-Pride Parade Party. So like 6 people RSVPed to my invite. And like 12 people showed up! Which was great since I hadn't seen some people in while. But I came dangerously close to running out of food. The beverage de juer was Fresca and Vodka. Very summery and light. And then we walked down to 17th to watch the parade. SuperLawyer had brought his children and there were a couple of times we had to distract them from some of the not quite appropriate scenes passing by. But overall it was fine. I was very glad to see that St. Thomas' had a big contingent in the parade and that Bishop Chane was there as well. My church rocks.

After the parade, and after losing some of my compatriots to the local drinking establishments on 17th St, we headed over to Levantes for dinner which was actually quite nice. But between the food and the previous alcohol consumption, the lure of my nice warm bed was too much for me. So no dancing for me.

Sunday, I went up to Woodley Park to have lunch with a high school friend who is here for a conference. He had come to my party, but we hadn't had a chance to really catch up, so it was good to have some quality time with him. Afterwards, GreekBoi and I went to the Pride festival. And that was fun. We hung out for a couple of hours and then I headed back to do some work.

So that was my weekend.

Oh, so I'm totally digging Fall Out Boy's: Thanks for the Memories! Kind of a weird video, but I'm loving the song: