you guys, i haven't posted anything in almost two months now. for me, that is just crazy. and yes, i'm well aware that i've said as much in the last two posts now, but it doesn't seem to be changing matters anyway. i blame constantly-emerging social networking technology.

anyway.

since i've been dipping my toe a little more intently into online dating (mind you not actually having dates, but at least messaging and keeping things up-do-date), i've decided to create a few rules that i adhere by. for your reading pleasure, i've put them all in one place:

i will not respond to you if*

~you wink at me. it's lazy, and if it's the equivalent of winking in real life, it's also sleazy and cheesy.
~your username involves the word "boi".
~your username involves the word "stud".
~your username involves the word "cock".
~your username involves the word "bro".
~if, at any point in correspondence to me, you address me as "bro".
~your username involves multiple x's or the number "420"
~you make drug references in your profile
~you are looking for an open relationship
~you have a spirit animal
~your username involves the word "warlock".
~your username involves the word "wizard".
~you describe yourself as "chill"
~the words "masc. dude looking for same" appear anywhere in your profile
~the term "lol" appears more than two times in your profile
~you're shirtless/in underwear in more pictures than you're fully (or at least appropriately) clothed
~you're wearing a cloak in any of your pictures
~you're weilding weaponry in any of your pictures
~you're not out to your family


*in no particular order

honestly, i don't think that a list like that makes me too picky. and yet you'd be surprised by how much it limits selections! man, online gays are shady!

in other news, cuz there's always other news (especially when i've not updated in almost two months!), i've been getting back into my writing. i really don't talk about it much because it makes me feel very talking-through-closed-teeth stanley tucci pretentious "yes darling, i'm a writer, don't you know", but it's good to be getting thoughts out again. i've been daydreaming about being published, and frequently have to reel myself in because hi, i just wrote about two and a half pages, which makes the total on my "novel" (such as it is) 13 pages, which is 13 pages over the course of a year, so it's not like i'm exactly plowing away at anything over here.

anyway, as i'm currently at a loss for a writers' salon (if you will), i may post a snippet or two on here from time to time, just to put it in a more public perspective. i'll say now, you're not required to comment on it. it might be helpful if you did, but it's absolutely not required.

( an installment just to get myself into it. oh, and just to be clear, neither of them are gay. )

Update: turkey finished early. Little darker that i would have liked. Tasted fantastic. Was well recieved. Still have agita.

Update on the turkey.
Why?
Because I have free^* wifi and nothing else to do until noon.

It took some wrangling for me and Rocker to get the turkey in the pan, and then to get that pan into the oven. Heavy turkey is heavy! We attempted to use a wooden skewer to keep the legs together, but that worked about as well as a purity ring on prom night. One "mistake" we did make was assuming that since the internal temperature of the oven to lower than the 500 F start point, that we should leave the uncovered turkey in for longer. Now it's...just slightly south of golden brown. Not burnt, but...brown. Rocker has spent the last hour or so reassuring me that this is OKAY and we're all good.

Now is the the calm before the storm. The hour between the lull of the turkey and the setting up of the rest of the entrees. We've a full sheet of lasagna, a roast beef, and a crock pot of meatballs and sausages in sauce.
The Bings do NOT dick around.
I think we love holidays because it's socially acceptable for us to overeat, something we do pretty regularly.

Just...a big thank you to everyone for the kind words left in the previous post.
For the record? Any eye misting that may have occurred was totally the result of the STUPIDLY STRONG coffee I made this morning. And not because I'm a Sappy McSapperson.
Just...to get that out there.








* re: stolen

By far my favorite version of my favorite Christmas carol. Sadly, it's one of those videos that was made with Microsoft PowerPoint slides, but it's all about the music, really. :)

An amazing arrangement of several Christmas/classical pieces by an incredible organ player. Merry Christmas, everyone!

3.5 hours from Park st. to home.
Fuck the MBTA.

My new boots rule the school!

Joy upon joy!
My netbook is fixed!

Yes, I have successfully forced the computer to accept the BIOS upgrade from 0402 to 1102 and now it works fantastically!^*
No more error messages!
All the buttons work how they're designed to!
Even the Super Hybrid Engine thing!

SO EXCITING!

I'm so stoked that the computer didn't get all bricked, or that I didn't have to reinstall XP to upgrade and then swap it back to WIN7.
GLEE upon GLEE!


* I say I when really it was one of the IT guys here at work, but I was there! In the room! While it was happening! SO that kind of counts for something...maybe.

Yup. Looks like I'll be reinstalling XP on my netbook.
It appears to be the only way to bring the BIOS up to speed so the damn thing'll accept Win7.

Bah!
Good thing I have that Firefox extension that lets me back up my settings.

O Hai Thar!
How's it going, LJ? We haven't really seen a whole lot of each other in the past few weeks. Or...no wait, that's not true. I've seen a lot of you, but I've been a bit on the quiet side. There's been a lot going on, and I've just been too tired, or out of it, to really comment.

That was a comma splice up there, wasn't it? You have my apologies. Today is clearly not the day I learn how to appropriately use a comma.

Let's see, what's first and foremost in my mind.

Facebook: I've once again decided to do something stupid and give voice to my displeasure at what I perceive to be Facebook Stupidity. Doublemint Bing A joined a group concerning whether or not one will say Merry Christmas this December. People who are FOR this sort of thing are really....for it, I find. I brushed it off, Doublemint Bing's involvement that is. Then this morning another friend of mine joined the ...hem...Crusade. The laws of The Funny say I should wait until there's a third joining person, but...I'm not fully awake yet, and so NOW seemed like the best time to pick a fight on Facebook.

I'll keep you posted.

Family: Speaking of picking fights with people you don't see all that often, I received not one, BUT TWO, Christmas cards from my father today. Two identical in every way, shape, and form. Well...save for the address. One envelope is filled out for an incorrect address, and the other the correct one. Seems someone was hedging their bets. Both arrived on the same day. *sigh*

And while we're on the topic of Family Business, I was talking to Rocker Bing last night when she impressed upon me the importance of having a Will. It all started while I was balancing my checkbook. I couldn't for the life of me figure out whether or not my Life Insurance was offered by work as a benefit, or if it was something I paid for. She mocked me for not knowing. From there we moved on to the topic of Medical Proxies and Next of Kin talk. I...don't own anything. No seriously. I have like...a comic book collection, and that's about the extent of my assets. So the idea of me having a will is just....kind of silly. And I said as much.

Then she dropped the hammer: You realize that if Sperm Donor Bing ever decided to contest a medical decision, he could...because you don't have anything filed that says otherwise.
...
Well damn it. So now I'm all curious as to how one goes about setting up a will. Do I need a lawyer for that? Methinks people are getting their brains picked on Saturday!

Pets: There's something up with Gilligan's shell. I don't like it. At all. There might have to be a trip to the Vet.

Finances: Am slowly making headway through the debt I incurred in the last year. In "theory" I could have it all paid off by April, which would be STUPIDLY nice. Then I'd be all Debt Free and stuff. You know, until I start planning all the travels for 2010.

School: Still deciding whether or not to continue with my Spanish education. My free class finished last night, and though I missed three out of the 8 classes due to slack, I truly think I got a lot out of it. Maybe my 6th grade teacher was right: Jr High Students just aren't really prepared to tackle a foreign language. Or...well, maybe she was just right about me not being ready for it. There's just a level of understanding now that I didn't have before. Can't explain it properly, it's just...like pieces of the puzzle fit better now. So bizarre.

Mental Health: Still numb. Still coasting. Still getting my emotional highs from visits, visiting, and collecting. Am wondering if yoga, or something like it, will help me fully integrate into my body. Maybe help me live more in myself, and not the back left corner of my brain that I currently inhabit.

Collecting: At the moment I'm missing-
Adventures #70
Tales #23 & #32
And I think that's it. Glee!

Today:
Actual Work work
Get Netbook looked at by IT
Figure out how to rip Flash Video from a website in prep for tomorrow's Director's cut.

hot damn, I hit that beef stew out of the park.

Dredge beef chunks in flour, smoked paprika, kosher salt, brown 'em.
Add onions, fennel, carrots.
Deglaze pan with a brown ale, reduce.
Add dried cherries and apricots.
Deglaze again with red wine.
Put in slow cooker, top up with beer/wine/veggie stock, cook forever on low.
Finish with more wine (to brighten), a bit of red wine vinegar, season to taste.

The guy next to me at the bus stop is drinking malt liquor out of an empty aluminum can. Stay classy Brighton.