"When we like to party we will always party hard..."

Well, I was a regular party animal this weekend.

Friday night I went to the pumpkin carving party at my friend's house. I didn't know a whole lot of the people there, but it didn't seem to matter - everyone was very friendly and seemed to get along just fine. But really, the evening's draw was the carving. Getting down to brass tacks about the business was fairly comical. Everyone spread themselves around on parts of the floor covered with several spread-out newspapers and contemplated their pumpkin-carving strategies. My favorite part is sticking my hand in the pumpkin goop after you take the top off, so my jack-o-lantern design was fairly simple. I had already had my fun. But some people really got into it and spend a LONG time carving designs into their gourds. I was quite impressed with the mad skillz. For me, the funniest thing was watching Karl. I did not know before he sat down in front of his pumpkin that he had never actually carved one before. Watching him discover the joys of this time-honored Halloween tradition was really cute. The expression on his face when we told him he had to scoop all the crap out of the pumpkin was priceless - a mix of wonder and absolute disgust. He did an excellent job, though, as you can see from the pictures on his blog. For a first-timer, he wielded his knife with aplomb. Well done, dude.

Saturday night I went to a Halloween party with a bunch of my grad school friends. The costumes were amazing, and some were incredibly creative. I was very impressed, because you never know with costume parties. Sometimes people are just lazy and don't put anything into it. But this crowd was really into their costumes. And everyone loved my fabulous pimp hat. There was a costume contest, and I got a few votes, but the evening's winner was this guy dressed as Jesus. To be honest, he really, REALLY looked like Christ - he had a great robe and used his own hair and beard. But I think what clinched it for him was his prop. He brought a box of wine disguised with a tear-away Poland Spring label -- for turning water into wine! Well done, Jesus.

On Sunday, I was hanging out with my friend Bryan. After going on a search for some pumpkins for more carving, we headed back to his place. Bryan made dinner, which was excellent. I'm amazed by anyone who can just cook things with random ingredients and without a recipe. But he moved deftly around the kitchen and produced a meal that was quite tasty. And then, there was the pumpkin carving, as you can see on his blog. Personally, I think his (the one on the left) is hysterical. I laughed about that for hours. Anyway, after dinner and some chat I had to head home so I could read the book I'm teaching today, while he went to watch iron being poured (don't ask). Thanks for a wonderful time, Bryan!

And now that the partying is done, I need to catch up on some sleep - so naturally, it's back to work! I hope you all had tasty weekends! Did you enjoy the random snow storm?

"I was working in the lab late one night..."

Well, this is shaping up to be a cool Halloween weekend!

Tonight, I'm heading over to an old friend's house to carve pumpkins and have dinner. I'm bringing along Karl, which should be interesting because he's never met any of my friends before. I have a penchant for being friends with weird people. They certainly keep things entertaining, but introducing them to people gets to be a bit anxiety-producing because I never knnow what they're going to do or say. One thing's for sure, it's never boring. I can't wait to hack into some gourds!

Tomorrow night, after what I'm sure will be a long day of grading midterms, I have a Halloween party to go to. I'm super excited to wear my pimp outfit, and I hear that the host has gotten a fog machine. Plus, they asked me to bring along my iPod, so I know that I'll like the music. I can't wait to see everyone's costumes!

Sunday I'm meeting up with a new friend to carve more pumpkins, which should be a lot of fun, and somewhere in there I have to read the book I'm teachintg on Monday. All in all, it's going to be a busy weekend. I never knew I was such a party animal.

I hope you all enjoy the weekend and get into the Halloween spirit!

So...tired.

Man, am I out of shape.

I just played racquetball with a friend of mine, and I am utterly pooped. I love racquetball, but it's been a long time since I played last. I sort of forgot how high energy it is, even if it is rather uncomplicated to play. So something tells me that I'm going to be paying for such exertions for the next day or so. Well, at least I know it's just because I'm usually lazy and not because I have some debilitating muscle disease.

OK, along with destroying my muscles, I think physical exertion has destroyed my brain as well. I can't think of a single thing to write about today. It's pretty much been ho-hum this week. Nothing exciting to report. Oh, my date got postponed until next week, so I can't update on that. Gee, I'm pretty lame today - now physically as well as otherwise. I hope you all are having more interesting lives than I am right now!

"Big pimpin', spendin' cheese..."

I can't really remember the last time I actually enjoyed Halloween. Even as a kid, I never really liked it. I always felt like it was too much bother for so little reward. Plus, I hate getting my face painted and all that stuff - it's just too icky. As I got older, I kind of fell out of the Halloween spirit and let it be the kids' holiday that it is. But lately, I've kind of been feeling it more. Not really the trick-or-treating business. That's lame. But the holiday itself does have significant background, and is really not for kids. So, in that spirit (and since I've been invited to a fabulous costume party this Saturday), last night I went in search of a costume.

I never knew what a HUGE industry Halloween is. Christmas may be the most commercialized, but for those people who deal in party favors and such, this is THE season. I went into a party store last night to, at the very least, get some costume ideas. The place was PACKED with people and the aisles were stuffed to the brim with various and sundry grotesqueries. Needless to say, my roommate and I had lotsa larfs trying on mountains of hats, wigs, capes, and masks.

Anyway, I walked out with a few things that will all be key components of my costume. I'm going to be a pimp. The reason? I found this FABULOUS hat at the party store. And I want to wear it. So, there it is. I have some pimpish accessories at home that will complement the hat nicely, and I believe I have a black velvet shirt somewhere from my wilder days as a pseudo-club kid. Now, all I need are some leather pants...

What are you all going to be?

"Cuz you've got to have friends!"

What a delightful weekend!

A few months ago, a couple of college friends of mine decided to organize a mini-reunion of sorts. As undergrads, we were all on the staff of our college's undergraduate art and literature magazine, and since graduation we've been missing it. It was great fun to read student submissions - some very, very good, some very, very bad - decide what to publish, do layout, proofreading, write editorials, and all that other fun publishing stuff. We spent A LOT of time together, seeing as putting a magazine together is cumbersome work, and we all bonded. But, as things happen, after college we kind of lost touch with most of the people on the magazine staff. So, through our various friendship networks, we managed to gather everyone together in New York City this past weekend to get reacquainted and talk about old times. It was honestly one of the best things we've ever done.

I drove down with another friend in the Boston area and we stayed at our friend N's apartment in the East Village. On Saturday, everyone came in from various places - one person even flew in from his medical school in Chicago! - and met at the White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village. Appropriate to our literary past, we went on a literary pub crawl that took us all through the Village. We stopped at four pubs, each of which had a great history and was a place of respite for many, many famous writers. John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe, Lillian Hellman, Willa Cather - we even saw the place where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death. Plus, during the tour, we got to spend time catching up with old friends, and just generally having a great time.

Once we got back to N's apartment, we ordered pizza and sat around chatting about old times. So many great memories were shared, and then I remembered why I had liked them all so much. They are just marvelous people. And it was so nice to see everyone doing so well and having very successful lives. I would never be this sappy otherwise, but I really do swell with joy for them. Good friends should never, ever be forgotten.

So, cheers to all my old friends (and the new ones as well). Thank you for making the grey and cloudy days shine as brilliantly as the sun.

AUGH!

So...much...to...do.

I have to finish grading and writing my lecture before noon, then I have to rush home to pack so I can be on time for my friend to pick me up on our way to New York City for the weekend.

So why am I blogging? Check y'all later. Have a nice weekend!

Welcome, Great Pumpkin!

Well, I have to say that the events of this weekend were quite unexpected. Not that anything THAT out of the ordinary occurred, but I always find that I end up doing really cool things when, in fact, I had nothing at all planned.

Friday night was kind of a bust, because I got home from work and did laundry all night. It really neded doing, so I was glad to finally have done it, but other than that it wasn't very interesting. Except for this little Latino boy who was playing with his matchbox cars while his mom toiled over the soiled laundry. He was very friendly, and even enticed me into a little racing game with his cars.

Saturday I spent puttering around the apartment. I finally finished my Mötley Crüe book, and promptly headed to Barnes & Noble for a replacement. I picked up Neil Gaiman's book, Neverwhere, and so far it's incredibly interesting. Go me for making a good choice.

Later in the evening, I had to go to an engagement party for a friend of mine and his fiancée. I didn't know a great many people there, but I went anyway, despite the fact that I'm desperately awkward in front of strangers. To my delight, I wasn't awkward at all. The conversation flowed naturally, I was charming and people were charming back, and it was really just delightful. Plus, I walked away with a date with this very attractive man from Jamaica Plain. Go me! A year ago that would never have happened...or even 6 months ago. Now, I'm the belle of the ball. Imagine that.

Sunday, since it was the first time we had seen the sun in over a week, my roommate and I took an impromptu trip to a farm out in Concord to pick pumpkins. Despite the wind, it was a lovely time. We enjoyed a hay ride, hot apple cider, pumpkin picking - and the best part was that the farm had a deal. If you bought one pumpkin, you got a second one free! So now I have two good-sized pumpkins just waiting to be hacked into. Definitely my favorite part of the Halloween season.

Sadly, the fun must end sometime. I'm looking at a full day of grading papers, which is always the delight of my life. I'm absolutely wild about it. And if there are any teachers out there reading this, you know that I'm being sarcastic. Solidarity, my people.

"But because I am mad...I HATE YOU!"

So, last night I was incredibly bored. And what happens when I get bored? I go shopping for entertainment! So I convinced my roommate to head out in the rain with me and make the arduous trek to Newbury Comics on the Fresh Pond Parkway.

We spent a good hour browsing around, and I bought a couple of things I'd been wanting desperately for ages. One was a DVD copy of Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari, the best example of German Expressionism ever. Creepy movie, with some great sets and costumes. Good fun. I also picked up a copy of Fiona Apple's new CD, Extraordinary Machine. I'm listening to it as I type this very moment, and so far I'm loving it. So much better than her last effort. She's gone back to being a bit more edgy. I'm sorry for her that she feels so bitter again, but I'm a firm believer in the idea that bitter chicks make the best music. I feel it speaks to me more. Now why could that be?

Also, I purchased a DVD copy of an old movie I had never seen before, but had heard good things about. The movie is Gaslight, from 1944 (and whence the posting title has come). It stars Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Angela Lansbury (whom I adore with a love that is beyond love). The movie was kind of so-so actually, but enjoyable nonetheless. It's a "thriller" about this woman who moves into her murdered aunt's house with her new husband. Soon, she begins doubting her mind as she misplaces things, hears noises, and is reminded of the brutal slaying of her aunt on a daily basis. Needless to say, there's a "twist" at the end, but anyone who's at least half awake during the film will have called it. And Charles Boyer's accent set my teeth on edge. Other than that, it wasn't a bad way to while away the hours of cold, rainy Thursday evening.

This weekend isn't shaping up to be as busy as the last, which is good because I REALLY have to do laundry. I will be attending an engagement party for a friend of mine and his new fiancée on Saturday evening, but other than that I'm open to anything that comes my way. Every once in a while it's nice just to see where life takes you...

Hubris anyone?

Yet another busy week for me! My students have a midterm this week AND I have to finish a proposal for a paper I want to give in April at the Society for French Historical Studies conference. My, I am the busy little bee.

Anyhow, the last couple of days have been a blur of various activities. I rabidly cleaned my apartment because I was sick of living in filth, and now it sparkles so much I'm blinded by its magnificence when I walk in the door. It makes me want to be at home more, which is always nice.

On top of the manic cleaning, I've been putting in long hours at school trying to get all of this stuff ready. I've just completed putting together my first-ever exam, and I'm quite proud of it. I certainly think that I've achieved the right mix of difficulty and capability - meaning, it's challening enough, but not so challenging that it's impossible. Of course, inevitably, they will bitch and moan about how difficult the test is, but that's to be expected. They're 18 years old and don't have much enthusiasm for things other than beer, sex, and vapid entertainment. And, really, who doesn't like those things? (Well, replace the beer with wine for me.) But c'mon people...you can't rot your brains EVERY day of your college career.

Tuesday night I spent with an old friend from college and her boyfriend in their new apartment in Teele Square. Their place is adorable, and the two of them are very cute together. I kind of hate them a little for being so rapturously in love with each other, but at the same time I am quite happy for them. I hope they make it, as so many relationships seem to just disintegrate these days for no discernible reason. Anyhow, we whiled away the evening with trashy food, Law & Order, and a few hands of rummy and Egyptian Rat Screw. My rummy skills have grown beyond even MY belief, as I walloped both of them, 530 to 145 and 220, respectively. I see the brilliance of my score leaves you speechless...take it in.

OK kids, I need to skedaddle early today as I have quite a few errands to run, and beyond my wildest expectations, I completed all of the things I had planned on my work "To Do" list today. Let me just say that, for the record, I am awesome. It's a pity more people don't want to be my friend.

"Suck on my big ten inch!"

OK, so it's not actually 10 inches. I was really just at a loss for something witty to title this entry. So I used the first thing that came to my mind...and before you think I'm a total perv, it's a line from an Aerosmith song that I've been singing in my head all morning. I don't walk around with blow jobs on the brain. Well, most days anyway.

Ugh. This weather is the suck. I really feel bad for all of those leaf-peepers who come to New England on Columbus Day Weekend - they really got shafted. Oh well, more for us.

This weekend, despite the superfluous amount of precipitation, was quite delightful. On Friday I drove to New Jersey to visit my best friend. I had some major traffic issues (did you ever notice that when it rains people forget how to drive?), especially in Waterbury, Connecticut. If you've driven on I-84 into New York, you know that there are about five billion exits in Waterbury, and also that they've been doing construction on that stretch of the highway for about a millenium. Well, combine the messy highway with rush hour traffic and a torrential downpour, and you get stuck in the middle of one of the biggest shitholes in Connecticut for hours. Thank the stars that I had some kickin' tunes to listen to in the car.

I got to New Jersey pretty late, but my friend and I stayed up chatting and playing Parcheesi, and just generally laughing it up. I'm so glad I decided to take this trip at the last minute, because I really needed it. There is nothing in the world quite like sharing a good time with a really old friend - the kind that knows you so well that it's scary. It's sad that it's so rare, but it makes me savor our relationship all the more.

Saturday we tried to go shopping, but the rain put quite a damper on that little idea, so we basically just ate really bad Chinese food and watched TV all day. Then, later in the evening we went to this guy's house to play some games. He's a friend of my friend's from church, and so all the people at this little party were from my friend's church. Now, I've mentioned before that my best friend is a Christian fundamentalist. And so are a lot of her friends. So picture me - a young, gay, liberal academic from Boston - in a room with straight, white, über-Christians. It was most entertaining. They are really nice people, and we had a lot of fun playing games (especially this one game, Mafia - I will SO be playing that again). The most interesting part, though, was the half-hour or so that I liked to call "Q&A with Gay J." They couldn't stop asking me questions about being gay, and while I'm hardly an authority on all things queer, I relished the opportunity to perhaps do some enlightening. It was most triumphant.

Sunday, my friend had to go to church all day so I drove home to my parents' house in Connecticut and spent the night. The next day I went with my sister to the Granville Harvest Fair. She's a teacher in the area, and an advisor to the Student Council, and her kids had a fundraising booth at the fair so I said I'd help out. Let me tell you, her kids are hilarious. I got updated on all the hot 7th grade gossip, and I found out what all the cool new tunes and fashions are. I am now hip to the teenage beat. Plus, I was thoroughly entertained by this 5th grader whom, I predict, will be a huge success in marketing. The kid made his own sandwich board, strapped it to himself, and walked around the fair accosting people to buy raffle tickets. The best part was that his mom looked at him, sighed, and said "Sometimes I wonder if he's not COMPLETELY crazy." I love small town America. It's like having a large-scale petting zoo.

So now I'm back to work, and not particularly thrilled about it. My students have a midterm this week, so that means I'm going to be extra busy putting things together, doing reviews, and fielding panicked e-mails from overwrought freshmen. How marvelous.

Happy Everyone's Favorite Genocidal Explorer Day!

Sorry for the lack of updates this week...it's been pretty crazy since my students had a paper due today and a midterm next week. Hopefully things will calm down again next week. As for now, I'm off to New Jersey for the long weekend. Happy Columbus Day!

I usually make fun of people for being as lame as I am right now.

Well, last night was pretty boring. No one was around at home so I spent a couple of hours wandering around Barnes & Noble. I didn't buy anything, but I love books and the way they smell, so I enjoyed myself nonetheless. Then I went home and my roommate had gotten home from the gym, so we decided to play this new card game I picked up called Fluxx. It was a lot of fun, I will definitely be spreading the knowledge to all of my card-playing friends. Then I went to bed and read The Dirt for a couple of hours before I fell blissfully asleep. Oh man...everyone who recommended that I read this book deserves presents. It is fantastic. And I kinda wanna make out with Tommy Lee, even though he's grungy.

Let's see, what else? Oh, that guy that I mentioned a couple posts back. The one I dated in January and decided he wasn't interested, and then asked me on a date a week or so ago. Yeah, I decided he's a permanent dink, and I really don't want to be friends with him either. I'm a pretty forgiving person. Some might say doormat. But of late I've had rather more self-confidence, and seriously, this guy couldn't be bothered to even be friends with me after we decided it just wasn't working. And I have no use for that. It says something about someone's maturity that one is willing to just throw someone out of one's life like that for no good reason. And I don't need friends like that. I've been down that road before, and it's not very scenic. So, He Who Must Not Be Named, I wish you all the best, but please don't call anymore. You have some growing up to do.

Um, so yeah, I'm kind of lame today. I don't have anything important to say (unlike my usual pearls of wisdom), and I'm not feeling particularly witty this morning. So, um, maybe I'll do some online shopping instead of finishing this blog post. I can hear a new pair of shoes whispering softly to me through cyberspace...

Cards, movies, and one dirty Savage.

What a busy weekend I had! And it's strange, but even though I was pretty much constantly on the go for the past three days, I feel so much more relaxed than usual. And no, it's not the drugs. They help, but they're not magic.

Friday evening I went over to Karl's to finally get him to see Mean Girls, and to wish him a bon voyage as he traipses off to Paris this week. I think he enjoyed it, but I also think he was more laughing at me because I was laughing even before the movie started. And plus, I know all the choreography from the "Jingle Bell Rock" scene. So, whether it was the movie or my ridiculous obsession with it, I'm glad he enjoyed. The movie was followed by some rummy, which I naturally won. And not by some dirty underhanded maneuver - unlike SOME people I could name. However, the best thing was watching these old VHS tapes of music videos and old San Francisco public access TV. I have never seen anything like it in my life. It was so totally weird and incomprehensible, but at the same time completely engrossing. I couldn't tear myself away from watching this ridiculous Asian drag queen named Rice Patty saunter along the streets of San Francisco and pretend to not know English. I have a feeling it's one of those cultural productions that, a thousand years from now, anthropologists will be shaking their heads over while trying to decided if we were a brilliant lost civilization, or just completely crazy. Anyhow, thank you for the hospitality, Karl. Buy me a present in Paris.

Friday night was, in fact, only marred by the transportation nightmares I had. Getting to the North End from my apartment in Watertown is not easy. Usually, I drive to Brookline and take the C line all the way in. However, Brookline is a good 20 minute drive from my apartment, so I decided to be adventurous and exclusively use public transportation. To get to the North End this involves a bus to Harvard Square, the Red Line to Park Street, and then the Green Line. A lengthy trip, sure, but not insurmountable. On my way home, however, the Red Line decided it was going to derail just as I got there around 11:30 PM. I was tired, it was hot in the subway, and all I wanted to do was get home - especially because I didn't want to miss the bus to Watertown Square! If I missed that, I would be screwed. So I didn't end up getting on the Red Line until about midnight, and by the time we got to Harvard Square, I had missed the last bus. Thankfully, I had my cell phone and called a cab to take me home, but still - I could have done without spending the cash on a ride home.

Saturday was spent shopping with my roommate, and then in the evening we went to see Dan Savage speak at the Brattle Theatre. He was hilarious. And so cute. He read a couple of excerpts from his new book, The Commitment, and then did a Q&A with the audience. If he weren't already a fantastic writer, I would tell him to do stand-up, because he is one of the wittiest people I've ever seen. Not a bad thing to have in a sex columnist, I'm sure, but with a personality like that he should really be in show business. I think I'm smitten. I'm also a sucker for a pretty face - I bought a copy of his book. I'm sure I'll read it eventually.

Sunday was spent doing some stuff for my course, then doing some reading, then spending some time with an old friend whom I have not seen in AGES. It was very good to see him, but it pains me as well. We used to be so close, and then he started going out with this guy I cannot stand and that just put a damper on our relationship. It seems a bit selfish of me to not want to hang out with my friend because his boyfriend will be there, but I really cannot take him - and I can take a lot of things, so that tells you how obnoxious this guy is. So, as good as it was to see him, I think it's time I realized we will never be as close as we used to be. And maybe that's not a bad thing...it makes room for new people. Finally, my roommate and I went to the Kendall Cinema to see Mirrormask. What a GORGEOUS movie. I've talked before about how I'm really inot the way things look. This movie was a feast for the eyes. And the story wasn't half bad either. I will definitely check out more of Neil Gaiman's work.

All in all, not a bad weekend. Sadly, now I have to do work again...ugh. I have the hardest life.