Author Archives: Robert

Oh my.  I overdid it last night.  Happy New Year!  Let’s have a mighty fine 2009. 

Ray and I went into Old Bisbee for the night.  I remember everything pretty much up until about 11:14 PM, then it gets kind of fuzzy.  I just remember looking at my watch and seeing that I was still up partying at around 3 AM. 

I so turned into a pumpkin racing down Brewery Gulch as if the magic spell was going to wear off at any given moment. 

Ray, on the other hand, was smart and crawled into bed shortly after 12.  He’s good that way. 

We went on a five mile hike today.  I was so NOT in the mood but once I got moving and felt the toxic sweat oozing from my pores, I knew I had to keep going. 

Speaking of going, I’m going to bed.  Right. Now.

I do have one little last holiday thing to say:

I am fond of the people in my life.  I may not always answer the phone or send you a Christmas card, but I think about you all the time.  I am grateful for my close friends as well as the people I have met through my blog or in other social situations either online or in person. 

Here’s to life!

Ray and I have a 32 mile round-trip commute to work.  To my urban friends, that may sound ghastly but actually it’s 65 MPH on the highway with a two stop signs.  On these short winter days, we are occasionally treated to a spectacular sunset.  I just happened to have my little camera with me for this one.

I’ve learned how to quickly override my point and shoot into manual settings to achieve the look I want but I miss having a fast *lense and a good camera. 

I’m really itching to get another professional camera.  I just can’t afford it right now.  I suppose I could have asked Santa for one but…it’s weird, I just don’t need it.  Don’t get me wrong, I want it but I already have a camera that works (it just doesn’t work as well).  I want to start posting more photos on my blog and I’d also like to create some more fun little videos.  The photos and videos I do on here are from my little digital camera so the quality is marginal.  So for now, the whole implementation of multimedia on my blog is going to be from a Lo-Fi perspective which just adds to the charm…I guess.

I’m not feeling very Christmas-like this year.  My niece just texted me asking what I got for Christmas.  I told her that I didn’t get anything and that I didn’t give anything either.  I think she was kind of flabbergasted at the prospect of not celebrating Christmas with presents.  The funny thing is; I’m not missing out–I already have everything a man could possibly want.  Besides, look at the photo!  That’s my commute home!  I live in a beautiful place with a devastatingly handsome man who actually loves me and my little idiosyncrasies.  I can cover my bills and put a teeny bit of income into a retirement plan, the cat gets fed, loved and cared for and I sleep eight hours a night.  I eat great food (thanks to Ray who feeds me very well),  ride a bitchen motorcycle, have sex on a regular basis (even if I am alone sometimes) and sing karaoke in my garage whenever the hell I want.  I like my job, boss and co-workers (most of them).  I’m healthy, work out regularly and even though I’m 43, I don’t look a day over 42.  Do I have a lot of things and make tons of money?  No.  What I do have is gratitude and that makes me very, very happy. 

I do not gauge a man’s wealth by money.  I measure it by the quality of his life and in that regard, I’m the richest man on the planet.  I got what I wanted for Christmas.  I live it every day. 

To my tens of readers: Happy whatever-it-is-you-celebrate!  Let’s all try to pool our collective energies together for a positive healthy happy New Year!! 

It’s all good.

*Ray was telling me that I misspelled lense in this post but according to Wikipedia, the obsolescent spelling lense is sometimes seen, but Merriam-Webster’s medical dictionary is the only major dictionary that considers this to be correct.  Who knew?

December 21st has come and gone.  From here on out, the days will start to get longer and warmer (unless you’re in Chicago where it doesn’t get warm until June).

Ray and I celebrated this momentous occasion by sitting in the afternoon sun drinking Maker’s Mark Manhattans–they taste just like Christmas!

It’s not that it gets too cold here (as evidenced by Ray wearing shorts), it’s just that it’s pitch black when you wake up and the sun is pretty much down for the day by the time you get off work.  Now summer is on the way.  We made it past the hump!  Usually by mid February, you can tell the days are getting longer.  I can’t wait!!!

 Below is my interpretive winter solstice sun dance.  I am worshiping the sunset on the shortest day of the year.  What it really shows is just how much of a dork I am.  I added the cloud effects and music with my computer.  I usually do a much better job but I don’t have the right kind of video camera and time was not on my side.  It’s cheesy but what would you expect from me?

A while back I blogged about the results of my skin cancer screening I had done at work.  On Wednesday, Ray took me up to Tucson to have MOHS surgery performed on my nose.  (Now I have a MOHS nose?)  The procedure took several hours. 

The surgery itself was fairly easy and the handsome doctor who did it was excellent–like extraordinarily excellent.  He even called my home that night to make sure I was OK.  He called, not a nurse but the doc himself!  OMG, A good-looking thoughtful smart compassionate medical professional. That just doesn’t happen anymore!

The good news is that Dr. Huether removed all the cancer.  The bad news was having skin grafted from my ear to the side of my nose leaving me with a bandage that I have to wear for two weeks (the ear bandage comes off tonight).  One half of me thinks about the overall discomfort and how stupid I’m going to look at the upcoming holiday parties I promised to attend this year.  The other half thinks that I should shut the fuck up and be thankful that this is my one and only brush with cancer (so far, knock wood).  

While I was wincing at the pain (and thought) of having needles stuck into my face and pieces sliced off to be taken to a lab or sewn on somewhere else, I was quickly humbled by the fact that some of my friends and family have gone though much, much worse with chemo and real surgery.  Some of them have died.  I’m a lucky S.O.B.

I have had basal cell carcinoma which, in the case of skin cancer, is the one you want.  It’s slow growing and easy to remove.  Sunscreen and hats from now on…sunscreen and hats…

This weekend I took a nice long nap on Friday and went to yet another wedding on Saturday.  Bride and Groom were going through their second stroll down the aisle.  I felt obligated to buy them something from their gift registry–again. 

I think I’m going to have to boycott weddings.  A) I just can’t afford it.  B) I’m kinda feeling like always a bridesmaid, never a bride.  C) See B.

Anyway, enough whining.  The highlight of the weekend was going to Homer’s Holiday Party.  All the usual suspects were there including sweet Brian from Phoenix.  Ray and I forget what it’s like to socialize with other gay men.  It was nice to see old faces (and some new ones).  Sandy, is back in town from Australia.  His partner Mahk (OK, it’s Mark and he has a sexy Australian accent) and their son Zane were there too.  I told them to come down (under) to Bisbee while they’re here. 

I wanted to stay longer at the party but we have a 90 minute drive from Tucson with nary a streetlight. 

The other weekend highlight was getting my computer set up again to write music.  I actually laid down some tracks!

Gay-rights activists are encouraging people to “Call In Gay” to work today to demonstrate how integral gay people are to American society.  I guess this idea is patterned after the 2006 “A Day Without a Mexican” work stoppage.

Yeah…I just don’t think I’m up for that.

Calling in gay is like calling in sick.  If that’s the case, I’d have to protest by Going On Disability because I’m gay 24/7.  My gayness (why does that have to rhyme with anus?) doesn’t happen on occasion.  It’s chronic, constant and at times debilitating—like when I’m watching Jon Hamm in Mad Men or scoping out hot stroller-pushing daddies in the supermarket (hey, I can at least look).

While I agree the passing of Proposition 8 is complete and utter bullshit, I don’t think Calling In Gay is going to be a very effective way to show America how important I am to society.  It just seems like if I worked with a person who disliked gays, they would be thrilled at the notion of me not being in the office for a day.  The idea just lends itself to ridicule.  Can you imagine how many punch-lines would come from a Call In NeoCon Republican day?

Oh sure, don’t show up!  That’ll show me.  Hey…I’m kinda liking NOT having you here in the office.  This is better than I thought.

I think instead of not showing up for something, we should show up for everything.  Most importantly, we should come out of the closet!  People who dislike gays are forced to reexamine their ideas when they find out their son, mother, grandfather, mailman, aunt, best friend, butcher, shoe salesman, chiropractor, contractor, favorite athlete, favorite actor, etc., is gay.

We can’t make a statement by showing the world what it would be like without gay people.  Be visible!  Come out!  You’ll be glad you did.