The more you know…

Parts of this are laughable…

Your result for The Gay Cliques Test...

The Daddy

35% Twink, 64% Bear, 70% Daddy, 47% Cub, 51% Otter, 50% Pup, 62% Muscle_Pup, 62% Wolf and 43% Gym_Bunny!

You are The Daddy. You are perfect husband material. Based on your hair color, there is a possibility you fit into the sub-catagory Silver Fox. Normally tall with average to little hairiness, your dominance and manly charm rub off onto those around you. You frequently dominate the gay world with your charming personality. Your looks only get better with age, and you try to attract the attention of younger boys who have daddy-issues. When you were younger you were probably a Pup, Otter, or Wolf. You are attracted to Wolfs, Twinks, Otters, and Pups. Normally not other Daddies however, as they are you competition.

Read the descriptions of all the other quiz posibilities below!

Take The Gay Cliques Test at HelloQuizzy

TMI Thursday: The Games

Sean at Just a Jeep Guy started it, now all the cool kids are doing it.

THE WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES

In general (we'll get to the politics in a few) do you watch the Winter Olympics?

I haven’t been watching as avidly as I usually do, but yes I have been watching a couple events from the Sochi Games. I enjoy snowboarding, slope style (the new event at this games), bobsledding, speed skating and hockey.

Winter or Summer?

While the Winter Games has a prevalence of lycra-clad mens… the Summer Games are preferable due the total lack of clothing on divers, swimmers, gymnasts wresters and jostling packages of track & field participants.  Nothing can beat the beauty of a gymnasts’ body --->

What are your favorite winter events? Do you follow any of them outside the game?

I watch the snowboarding events when they’re televised and we have a pretty good minor league hockey team locally. I don’t think they televise bobsled or speedskating much in the off years.

Which sport needs to stay and which one needs to go?

Hell… I don’t care. I like the ones I like, I don’t pay much mind to the ones I don’t. Just like in the society at-large, everyone should like what they like and do what brings them joy (so long as it doesn’t deprive others of the same right). If I don’t like an event, I’m sure there is someone who does. Who am I to deprive people of their love of curling, or the biathalon?

Which is the weirdest sport?

Most of them are weird in one way or another. It seems to me that many recreational activities make you wonder what was going through the mind of the first person who slid head first down an ice chute at 90 miles an hour (skeleton) or thought that cross country skiiing five miles before stopping to target shoot a dime, then setting off on another five mile ski (biathalon). Curling is pretty weird… shuffleboard on ice? Dat ass --->

What is your POV on boycotting The Olympics by countries and or athletes?

I believe the Olympics are the pinnacle of achievement for athletes in many sports that are only given much attention every four years. I think that using their hopes and dreams as a political bargaining chip is evil. That being said, the IOC screwed up big time putting the Games in Sochi. Obviously they were paid handsomely by the Russians to make the choice.

Are you boycotting NBC or any Olympic sponsors?

I don’t know what I think of ‘boycotting’. On one hand I know that corporations are running our lives. Their power and financial resources are so far out of reach of the common man that they cant be touched. Regulations can be changed at the government level, but won’t because the corporations own governments. I’m not “boycotting” the games, because I celebrate the achievements of the athletes. I’m not “boycotting” sponsors… I don’t eat at McDonald’s or drink Coke anyway. My complaint is the same in Sochi as it was in London; NBC could do a better job with camera angles and graphic placement. Its like they intentionally block the good shots. One of the hockey players --->

Do you think boycotts are effective?

Massive public boycotts? Yes, they are effective. The sheer size of the corporate sponsors demand a massive international boycott for months in order for them to notice. A few thousand people not buying Coke for a week in February isn’t going to mean a thing to the bottom line.

If you were an athlete what would you do?

Bobsled… see the Canadian team at the top… RAWR!

I shall leave you with a picture of Gold medal winning Olympian Apolo Ohno’s legs. --->

Saturday 9: I Will Always Love You

Saturday 9: I Will Always Love You

1. The Bodyguard is the best-selling movie soundtrack ever and this is the song most often associated with Whitney Houston. Is it on your iPod/mp3 player?
   -- Yes, both Whitney’s version and the original by Ms. Dolly Parton.
2. In the movie, Rachel (Whitney) sings "I Will Always Love You" after she realizes she can never see Frank (Kevin Costner) again. What song reminds you of a past love?
   -- Total Eclipse of the Heart reminds me of my x-wife… our marriage was a sham. I felt like everything was an act, things that normal couples would share, we didn’t. I wasn’t in the relationship because I was hiding my sexuality and she wasn’t there because I believe she knew it was a sham too.
   I hope to find the love Angel and Collins sings about….
   
   
   
3. Despite the movie's and the song's overwhelming popularity, Whitney Houston was awarded a Razzie Award as the worst actress of 1992. What's the most recent criticism you received?
   -- Occasionally in my job, my optimism gets the better of me and I get myself into a bind when I have to suddenly deal with reality. HA HA I say… I reject your reality and replace it with my own!
4. On the bright side, share the last compliment you received.
   -- John, you’ve been doing this job for five years, when you going to learn to curb your optimism?
5. In the 1980s, when Whitney first burst onto the scene, a trendy woman wore big hair, big bows and big shoulder pads. Can you think of anything you wore that was fashionable at the time, but looking back, makes you cringe? (An embarrassing photo to accompany your answer would be nice!)
   -- There aren’t many pictures in existence (that I know of), the one at right is from my high school yearbook from my junior year in 1986.
6. When this song was popular, cell phones were uncommon and Facebook was unheard of. Which has had a bigger impact on your life -- smart phones or social networking?
   -- Social networking has been both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to stay in touch with old friends far away and to meet new friends, but it can also be a wedge that prevents one from getting up and out to mingle with actual humans.
7. Whitney's marriage to Bobby Brown left many people shaking their heads. Whitney and Bobby's daughter recently married the young man who was raised as her brother. Have you ever been in a relationship your friends/family didn't approve of?
   -- I’m gay… there are a great number of family and friends who don’t approve of whom I choose to love. In the worlds of Dr.Seuss…
8. Whitney Houston's grave marker reads, "I Will Always Love You," so obviously her family is very proud of the success of this recording. How would you like to be remembered?
   -- I want to be remembered as someone who won a victory for mankind.
9. Whitney was born in Newark, the largest city in New Jersey. It's a major air, rail and shipping hub, and it's in the Eastern Time zone. Have you ever been to Newark ... or any town in New Jersey?
   -- When I was in high school my dad was a long-haul truck driver. He hurt himself and needed assistance to manage the cargo. One of the trips we made was to Vineland, NJ. I remember it as an industrial city in southern Jersey, just east of Philadelphia.

TMI Thursday: Super Bowl XLVIII

Sean at Just a Jeep Guy started it, now all the cool kids are doing it.

SUPER BOWL XLVIII

Do you know who's playing in this year's Super Bowl?
-- The Seattle Seahawks… and the team that will lose.

Do you watch the Super Bowl for the game, uniforms, commercials or food?
-- Yes… Hell Yes!… if it catches my eye and…  not so much this year.

What's your favorite food?
-- I enjoy many, many foods (that’s how you get four spins on the scale), but the one food I cannot pass up is Pizza.

Are you entered into any Super Bowl Pools?
-- Not yet

If you don't watch the big game, do you do something else?
-- Not much would tear me away from this game.

… I could happen… right?

What sports do you watch?
-- Mostly Football, but some basketball and baseball… I’m pretty butch like that.

 

BONUS

Are you the Quarterback or the Receiver?
-- I am a WIDE receiver.

Makes You Wonder

For most of my life I was trained through education and pain to give the right answer to a question. I formed my life, into a dizzying labyrinth of facts I didn’t believe and opinions I didn’t hold… pretending to be a person I was not. I held an anger below the surface towards the hypocrisy I saw in this world I lived in and in my own mind. I would hold it in for so long that, like a boiler approaching the bursting point, I had to let it out some where. My X-wife used to say that I had anger control issues. I have lost jobs because the anger would come out over a stupid comment of a customer. I spent most of the 90’s and 2000’s taking mood stabilizers, but the anger was still there. I wonder, did you like that John better? The married father who seemed so normal, yet had momentary lapses of containment? Did you like the John better that nodded in the church service yet put no action to the words, except for in the lives of other club members?

After much internal struggle; weighing the pros and cons of who I was and how sustainable the increased psycho-tropic medications were, I decided I’d had enough. Enough of the bullshit, enough of the hypocrisy, enough of the falsehoods. Five years ago this month, I separated from my wife, came out of the closet and began living the mantra, “to thine own self be true”.

Five years later, I don’t take meds to balance my mental health. I don’t have migraines, My eldest said once, “Dad, you seem happier now”. But I’ve paid quite a cost… I’ve also lost a LOT of friends and one of my children has divorced herself from me. . I sit alone at home way too much. It is especially painful on major social days like today, there are two major football games, there are people I know gathered in living rooms around this city, and I wonder do any of them think….

• “Gosh, John mentioned several times this week that he didn’t have plans. Maybe I should have asked him over?”
• “I saw that John desperately posted on facebook that he was watching the game alone… he’s so funny”.

Makes you wonder… maybe I should have stayed a pill-popping fraud… did you like THAT John better?

Intentionally 2014

I cannot believe that 2014 is already 12 days old. I had the intention of posting my personal goals, intentions… resolutions, if you will, 10 days ago. But you know how life gets in the way, so here it is.

Physically

In 2013 I took the plunge into seriously dealing with my weight problem. You can see in the widget at right the progress I’ve made thus far, it is my intention to capitalize on the reworking of my gastro-intestinal physiology to continue making a dramatic change in my outward appearance and in how I feel about myself. Being morbidly obese has just as much to do with the way the public at large sees me, but also how I perceive myself. That being said, my goals for the year are:

• To participate in local physical events that benefit causes I’m passionate about. Up first is The Climb on April 12th to raise awareness of bullying, self-harm and suicide prevention.
• To purchase and use a bicycle.
• To look Damn Sexy like Chris Pratt (good lord! look at him!). This picture is from when he was preparing for Zero Dark Thirty, perhaps you know him as the woofy Andy Dwyer on the NBC show, Parks and Recreation?

Personally

I know that I will never find the man of my dreams as long as I’m damaged goods. I need to feel good about myself and be the person with whom I would want to be in a relationship. Over the past five years, I haven’t had much luck finding the right guy, and it seems I was the common denominator in all those failures… wherever you go, there you are.

• Maybe if I looked more like Chris Pratt and less like Chris Farley?
• Be confident in who I am and live a life with no regrets.
• Leaving the negativity of the past and embracing the possibilities of NOW.
• I feel that if I were more involved in LIFE, Mr. Right will find me. So I will get up and get out and participate.

Professionally

At work, 2013 ended filled with optimism. I participated in a Leadership Project with the Agency and my annual performance review commended me for participation in that Project and in taking on several optional duty assignments. 

• Continue to perform my duties and those voluntary duties with professional excellence.
• Position myself to take advantage of advancement opportunities.
• Take opportunities to be a valuable member of the team.

There you have it. Here’s to a prosperous New Year!

Saturday 9: Believe

1. In 1998, Cher became the oldest woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 with "Believe." She was 52 at the time. At what age do you think you did hit/will hit your prime?
   -- God, I hope I haven’t hit my prime yet. If I have, I didn’t appreciate it.
2. Cher is as well known for her outrageous outfits as for her singing. What's the latest piece of clothing you added to your wardrobe?
   -- With the drastic weight loss I’m experiencing, I am enjoying casting off clothes that I’m shrinking out of. I had some success with weight loss in the past and I optimistically saved my “skinny clothes”. I am enjoying wearing those clothes again.
3. Cher credits her unique looks to her diverse ethnicity. Her father was Armenian and her mom is English/German/Cherokee. From where did your ancestors come?
   -- I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure they were asked to leave.
4. When she was a little girl, Cher produced and starred in a schoolyard production of Oklahoma. Were you involved in drama or theater in school?
   -- I performed in the obligatory school play in elementary school. I got up the courage to tryout for a role in a community theater production of Huckleberry Finn in 2005. I would love to do it again.
5. Cher is open about her plastic surgery, speaking freely about having had her breasts 'done', her nose bobbed and her teeth straightened. If you could change one physical feature about yourself, which would it be? And what would you never change, under any circumstances?
   -- I’m working on my weight right now, and some people believe that having gastric bypass surgery is pretty extreme. In the future there is a likelihood I’ll have to to have some excess skin removed. The excess weight has been such a focus for change for so long, I haven’t thought of anything else.
6. There's a stubborn rumor, often denied, that Cher had a rib removed so that she could maintain her long and lean silhouette. What's the most outrageous thing anyone has said of you?
   -- My family says and has said some pretty hurtful things. Just like the lovely Jinxx Monsoon, its just water off a ducks back!
7. When she was a kid, Cher practiced her autograph. Do you have a clear, legible signature? Or is it more of a scrawl?
   -- It has a little flair to it, but otherwise pretty legible.
8. Cher asks, "Do you believe in life after love?" Crazy Sam's question is easier and less profound: Do you believe in luck?
   -- I believe luck comes to those who prepare.
9. Did you make any resolutions for 2014?
   -- I call them ‘intentions’ or ‘goals’… yes, there will be a post soon. Stay tuned.