June ramblings

Ahhh here we are in the first real month of Summer! Time for Friday night volleyball games, Pride Festivals, outdoor dining, yard work and more yard work, walking around the park two extra times just because and spending hours at the pool even though you know the sun is gonna getcha.

We are just in time for some of the madness to end and just in time for some to begin. Hillary Clinton will give a fond farewell to her Presidential campaign pursuit - maybe even tonight - and allow Obama to duke it out with Pops McCain. I hope that she has a shot at VP and it sounds like she would be interested in the position but I have my doubts that Obama wants a strong woman riding shotgun. Wait.....holding the shotgun might be a better way of putting it. She likes to take charge and that may just scare him too much. She was my candidate and now I play the waiting game like everyone else who will vote the Democratic ticket.

More madness just starting......did you hear the story about Lindsey Lohan and her new gal pal? Uh yeah!? Apparently she is a little gag-gag over her 20 something DJ BFF. I even heard a story where she wants to marry her pal now that it is legal in San Francisco. Wow.....that's just what we need for the cause isn't it folks? She's gay today but somewhere else tomorrow! No thanks Lindsey!

Pride festivals are heating up all over the nation and it will once again be our turn here in Cincinnati. I was looking at the events and it appears that we will be disappointed again. Poor funding or the lack of creativity in gathering more funds makes this Pride event rather sad. Still it is the only one we have and my friends and I will make the best of it and watch the 15 minute parade and then walk around and count the drag queens. Such is life in the big conservative city......

So what kind of madness do you have to look forward to this Summer?

For Katie

http://www.500kin365.org/main.htm

The rest of the story.......

I was a bit road weary after our California adventures over the last 2 weeks so I have not been as quick to jump back on here. Lyn has started the story about our return flight home and since I know she is completely aggravated with the whole sordid tale......she is leaving it up to me to fill in the blanks.

Ok.....we arrived at SFO in plenty of time to catch our flight. However, once standing in line my eyes meandered to the Northwest Departures board where I found that our flight (scheduled to leave in 2 hours) was already marked "Delayed". Not so good news for us because we had a connecting flight to catch in Minneapolis. Yes.....Minneapolis, Minnesota. I will pause to say that the only thing good to come from the state of Minnesota is blizzard snow storms and Mary Richards (for you youngsters that would be location characterized in the Mary Tyler Moore Show). So yeah......Minnesota. I have no reason on this earth to ever go there but for some reason I was meant to spend the night there Wednesday evening.

So I digress. Our flight was delayed by 67 minutes once we boarded the plane. At that point we had a chance to still make our connecting flight at 7 pm CST. Then......we sat on the plane for another 40 minutes and that pretty well secured the fact that we were not making our connection. By the time we pulled into the Minneapolis airport (just to find that there were no Northwest runway guys available to assist us to the gate) it was 7:15 CST.

Since there were so many people who were waylayed by the delays, Northwest had new itineraries, food vouchers, shuttle vouchers and hotel vouchers waiting for us as we got off the plane. Sounds good right? Remember.....we were in freakin Minnesota at 8pm in the evening. We might as well had been dropped off on an island.

We decided to get our flight arrangements in order before we left the airport so we could waste as little as time as possible the next day. This is when we spent an hour with Northwest ticketing agent - Jose. I am not sure it was his very first day with NWA but he was definitely a rookie in dealing with our issue. It was at this point where I knew that with "NWA Jose" assisting us we would likely not see our luggage when we arrived back home in Dayton. After an hour, we finally got our itinerary for our boarding passes on American Airlines the next day. This is when we found out we would be flying from Minneapolis to Chicago and then to Dayton. But you know........whatever.....I was good because we were on a competent airline out of the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". It didn't matter to me that I would have to be awakened at 4 am to make a 4:45 shuttle from the Days Inn. Yeah.....Days Inn. With no additional clothes with us except what we had on our backs, it was a no brainer that I was going to sleep in my clothes anyway. My only fear is we would encounter snow the next morning that could delay our 6am flight out of there. You may laugh at that but we are talking about freakin Minnesota here people! It snows 300 days a year up there.

Next morning, our friends took an earlier shuttle to the airport since they weren't sleeping much in our luxury accommodations. Lyn and I caught the 4:45 "Special" and was promptly delivered to the airport at 5am on the nose. After a brief moment of panic by me while waiting in the security checkpoint - I thought I didn't have my wallet with me - we breezed through the checkpoint and managed to get a VERY ON-TIME flight with American Airlines and out of the barren snowland of Minnesota.

Our next flight was just as prompt and once we landed in Dayton, we only had one last obstacle to overcome - the arrival of our luggage. God knows it could be anywhere but after this extended journey home we REALLY wanted it with us. No luck. The only four bags sitting on the luggage carousel were someone elses and not ours. We checked with American and they didn't have them. We told them that "NWA Jose" said he was routing them to AA (the other AA is what all four of us need now after this trip) so we were sure they would have them. Wow....we were naive and tired at this point. We checked with Northwest who checked one of our bag tags and said that our bags were going through Detroit and should be there today. They will be sent to us. Aha.....ok. Little did we know that the only bag still in route from Detroit was Lyn's. Our other three bags were in Dayton since 6am that day and neither airline had them in their immediate possession.

Three of our bags arrived last night. Lyn's is being hand delivered by some poor soul who doesn't know what the hell he is in for when he knocks on Lyn's door this evening. Needlesstosay that no matter how badly I need to reach "here to there" in the future, it will not be on NWA. We never received an explanation on why the flight was delayed and after working with "NWA Jose" I have no faith in the competence of their employees.

Either way........all of us are home safely and we all enjoyed our trip immensely. I received all the wine I shipped from Napa today so I will be as happy as a drunken clam shortly.

Tuesday vacation ramblings

Yesterday we had adventures in "mud bathing" at the local Sonoma spa and today it was all about wine. It is quite the business that these wineries have in regards to tastings. The seven wineries we visited managed to sucker us in to buying close to twenty bottles today. And this was just Sonoma and not Napa!

We found that we like can recommend several Sonoma wineries to you today - Kendall Jackson (always a winner methinks), Simi, Stryker, Ferrari-Carano, Silver Oak (very good), Ledson and St. Francis. There was one winery - Seghesio - that promised to be a good one but fell short of our expectations so we can't recommend that one. However, I am going to use my "shoe analogy" again and say that just because you and I like the same pair of shoes it doesn't mean they are going to fit us both comfortably. Therefore......Seghesio may turn out to be your all-time favorite but for us.......it was blah.

I can recommend a nifty little drive-in restaurant on Rt 128 in St. Helena called "Taylor's Automatic Refresher". We will likely go there again tomorrow as we plan to spend another day wine tasting in Napa. This restaurant has been shown on the Food Network so it is a winner. I enjoyed the Western Bacon Blue Ring burger. A delightful combination of an onion ring, crumpled blue cheese, pickles, red onions and barbecue sauce. Mighty tasty indeed!

My friends and I are weary travelers this evening. We are resting up in preparation of another day of wine tasting and a lovely dinner in downtown Napa tomorrow evening. We have also found out that the temperature tomorrow will be 98 and 102 on Thursday. Yes......102 degrees in Napa on Thursday!

I was very happy to see that Hillary won the primary in West Virgina today. I am still of the mindset that Obama will help the Democratic party MORE if he asks Hillary to be his running mate. Can you imagine how many more seats in the House and the Senate we can fill with Democrats if we have both Hillary and Obama supporters going to the polls? If we have folks deciding to not vote because Hillary is not part of this plan.....the lack of votes will not help the cause. I can't even imagine who Obama will choose if it is not Hillary. I am hearing more stories about McCain choosing Huckabee as his VP and that just scares the bejeezus out of me.

So this ends my ramblings for the day. Time to rest for more restful vacation meanderings tomorrow!

TA TA!

It's about time!

After months of waiting and watching seemingly endless news talk shows broadcasting about the Democratic campaign, I got to vote today! That's right......the Democratic freedom train finally made it to Indiana!

I have cast my vote for the person who has the most amount of experience and not so much charisma. I voted for Hillary. I voted for her because - love her or hate her - she has more experience than her counterpart. She isn't preaching "pie-in-the-sky" ideals and she isn't turning every speech into a "hope-filled vision" for America. She has a practical plan folks and she has it well documented. We know where she stands. Some might say.....yeah...but she is already part of that awful Washington system. There isn't one Senator running who hasn't had to endure (or take part in)that awful Washington system of politics. I mean.......haven't we all had to endure eight years of it with our hands cuffed behind our backs? Our Democratic representatives in Congress have had to sit by mercilessly and watch this Republican dictatorship go on without being able to stop it!

We have a chance to stop it now! I want someone in office who has the "balls" to fight when we need to fight and be the gracious diplomat when working with our allies and partners around the world. We don't need any more enemies nor do we need any more dead soldiers. It is time to come home and protect the homeland, fix our crippled economy, shore up social security and save American jobs from going overseas.

My candidate has a plan. I will be watching and hoping that Hillary can pull off a win not only in Indiana, but in North Carolina as well. I believe in our country (humming America the Beautiful) and all that it stands for today.

I gotta believe in miracles.........it's just who I am.

4 Days...

... and counting to the long-awaited vacation. It's always an interesting test to travel with friends and loved ones.

At least for me.

I'm a meandering soul. Rita, as we know, is *strategic* in her shopping, driving, sightseeing, etc.

Our California sojourn should prove interesting. Coastline and wineries to meander along and through. SF and Monterey to strategically see as much as possible.

There are maps. There are iteneraries. There are even folders.

And of course, there will be wine.

Pigs do fly.......

in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati has a pork-filled history as part of its heritage. In the early 1900's it was known as "Porkopolis" because of its pork processing plants. No one produced more pork products than Cincinnati. As part of that tradition, the flying pig has become synonymous with our fair little city.

The pig has been honored in statues - all over the city in 2000/2001 - as seen below.

It also has been eaten in some very fine barbeque restaurants all over town. While "mom-n-pop" and franchise barbeque restaurants are all over the city, the most notable is the Montgomery Inn. Mmmmmm........the ribs are good there! I suggest a slab of ribs followed up by some Graeters Black Raspberry Chip Ice Cream for dessert.

And lastly.....the pig is honored in the "Flying Pig Marathon". The marathon is happening this weekend. It is your typical 26 mile run for the riblets. Ok....that is stretching it a bit. They aren't reeeally running for ribs here. If they were, I would be running! The race is a Boston Qualifier so I guess if you can run this they figure you can run with the big boys and girls in Baaaa-ston.

So the next time you ever have the opportunity to stop in Cincinnati or if you are just passing through, you will see a flying pig here and there. It's just a part of the local history and the best entree in the local restaurants.

Check please!

This phrase could not be more apropos for me than it is today. While thousands of Americans received a "little sumthin sumthin" in their savings/checking account (while I await my own stimulus check), I am more than ready to say "check please" at my workplace and run screaming away on vacation.

I am mentally done. I have finished my tasks and I have no demands that are left undone. My brain is tired of dealing with educated adults who act like uneducated children. The workplace now reminds me of the Willie Wonka Veruca character....."I want it nowwwww Daddy". My brain is tired of the demands of the "Verucas" of this world. It only wants one thing at this point - Napa Valley and all it has to offer.

I have found that two weeks of vacation really recharges me. I know that one week can be nice, but that really is too close to leaving and coming back to really make a significant difference. Two weeks are quite lovely I must say. (as I hear my work phone ringing in the distance) Ugh!

I have not taken more than two weeks off at any time although I can imagine it must be extraordinarily spectacular. I have known people to take a month off in one shot and go to distance lands like Australia and the like. I don't know if I would want to use up all of my vacation in one sitting. No....I would have to have a day here or there (a week) to use later in the year.

So what are your plans for vacation this year? Something phenomenal? Something domestic? Something where you are waited on 24x7 perhaps? (wow....that sounds good even as I type it!)

What does it take for you to scream CHECK PLEASE!!!!!

Sunday morning ramblings

I have begun my day early today thanks to a little fluffy dog named Bailey. That's ok....I had lots of things to accomplish this morning. I am including a few of the highlights or low-lights of the week.

• Now I like oysters but even this story had me feeling a bit overwhelmed and gagging. Just don't know how people do it. http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/12/1427070-oy-eating-champ-downs-35-dozen-oysters
• Those of you who have been reading this blog may know that a group of friends and myself have allowed ghost hunting to become an interesting hobby. I am not quiting my day job as of yet because it is not a job that will immediately pay you millions (don't think TAPS is making millions yet either). However, it is a very interesting hobby indeed. I have renamed my second blog to incorporate our new team name - Paranormal Investigators of Cincinnati. Check it out!
• Here we are so close to the Pennsylvania Primary and I am still not happy with the way things are going for our Democrats. The campaign fight is getting more bitter and it usually does as the nominees battle it out. However, why is it that the media hypes the bitter fighting as unfair by each candidate? It's not unfair and quite frankly I would think that to clear the air of all issues you would need to hear more of this type of direct critiques otherwise you may appear weak. I still have doubts that Obama can beat McCain and I am not afraid to admit that openly and IN PRINT!
• Has any other state in the nation - other than Ohio - banned smoking in all public places? If so....how is that working out for you? I must admit that going into a bar to listen to a local lesbian band is quite nice without being choked with smoke. Last night we went into a bar which had the No Smoking (with the listed fines attached to it) all over the place but the local rural lesbians were just puffing away. Just love it when the public votes something into law that can't be enforced completely by state officials. Cough cough!

Ok.....enough jabbering.....time for coffee!

Do you believe.......

in ghosts?

Have you ever seen a ghost? Or do you think it is merely a figment of people's imagination?

I am a believer yet I have never seen one. I think the day I do see a ghost I may just drop dead on the spot. :)

Relationships

I have posed this question in my poll but I decided to pose the same question in my blog post just to get an idea of where everyone's head is in regards to whether or not a gay or lesbian relationship would have any more staying power if it were all nice and legal.

Let's think about it for a minute. How many of you were raised in a single parent household after a divorce? I was one of those kids. My parents divorced when I was 14 and I remember all of the good days and the ugly days that surrounded that "event". It was painful for both. It was all about custody issues, child support and alimony issues,who got to live in the house and the sorting through the miscellaneous bits-n-pieces of "who got what".

So my question is to you this evening......if gay and lesbian partnerships were all nice and legal would we take them more seriously or would those relationships still average a 5 year lifespan? If lesbians were dragged through divorce court each time they broke up, would we learn to be more patient and committed to each other because of that?

Lesbian inquiring minds yearn to know..........

Katie Reider

Some of you may have read my blog posting in May 2007 about a great local musician Katie Reider. I know that some of you may have your own local favorite musicians so you can appreciate it when I say that Katie certainly has something unique to offer the music industry. I have met Katie on occasion at some of her venues and while I don't know her personally she is truly one of the sweetest and most receptive musicians that I have ever met. Her music has a certain "something" that strikes a cord in everyone. Perhaps it is her personality and her music that makes her a very charming package.

Well.....in the last year we found out that Katie is suffering from a Myofibroblastic Inflammation tumor in her head and face. Yeah.....sounds scary to me too. I have been reading her not so frequent postings on her myspace page and while she has been soooo positive you fear for her as she struggles through this medical fiasco. My heart really does ache for her as she and her family - partner and two small children - cope with the day to day struggles that this tumor has brought into their lives. You have to ask the familiar question - why her?

A website has been established to show her how much she is supported and loved by her fans. It is called 500,000 hits in 365 days. It is a site to unite fans, musicians, family and friends behind Katie as she faces this ongoing battle.

If you do nothing else after reading my blog today, please make one stop at the 500,000 website in support of Katie. Stop by her myspace page (link in 2nd paragraph) and listen to the four songs that she has on her page. This is truly a talented individual who has the ability to reach out and connect with many people.

To purchase Katie Reiders music, specifically her latest CD, Simplicity, please visit this Amazon link below or find her on iTunes.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_m/002-1598707-7425642?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Katie+Reider

IKEA. If You Buy It, You Must Build It.

Rita hates to shop.

But extend the offer to include taking a handsome 1 year-old there as part of his birthday celebration and she's on board.

So we went yesterday afternoon. I'm no fool. Access to both SUV and extra hands to carry the flat-but-heavy boxes? Score.

Four lesbians, one child, one stroller, one cart, a diaper bag, assorted toys, cereal bits, sippy cups. The list. And a pencil.

Uh, 'scuse me for a sec. She needs a hammer.

Okay. Crisis averted.

So we started in the showroom and children's section. Mom and son loved the brightly colored room options -- pre-shopping for his big boy bed to come and wonderful storage options for his own personal Toys R Us section.

Robin found some new bedroom furniture she liked.

I lingered a bit in the work space area. Choosing four different styles/combinations before settling on my new Gustav desk and cabinet.

Rita and Robin were entertained through most of this by the little man -- he'd scored a plush soccer ball and was quite content developing his hand/eye coordination. Or maybe it was the fun of tossing the ball and watching three lesbians scramble for it...

So after an hour or so on the showroom floor, we go downstairs.

I was a bit concerned. Rita kept looking at the map and mumbling something about any store requiring a map is just too big.

But mom and baby were just getting started.

Storage items. Kitchenware. Plastic cups. Sheets. Doggie dishes.

By this time, I've left Rita sitting on a pile of door mats near the checkouts, looking troubled. She was no longer humming Abba tunes and seemed to be reliving her trip through the maze to meet me in Aisle 10, bin 23. "I went left, then right, then saw what seemed to be an open route, then left... like a rat in a maze."

About 2.5 hours after walking in, we checked out -- all in all, an effiecient trip. We all bought one or more items. Even the non-shopper.

And now it's Sunday. I tried to discourage beginning the 'build'. It's 60 degrees and sunny. But we're underway.

Bailey is supervising.

Obama poll

For those of you have been visiting my site, you may have seen my poll ----------------->

on the right side of the screen. As a result of my recent postings about the possible political upheaval that could result if Obama wins the nomination I decided to just take a little random sample of my blog visitors to see if it held any merit.

Today is the last day that this particular poll will run. The results thus far have been surprising to me since it comes close to what I was expecting. If Barack Obama would win the nomination tomorrow and not include Hillary on his ticket: 42% of you said you would would vote for him, 28% of you said you would not vote for him and 28% of you said you were not sure.

I intentionally left a John McCain choice off of this poll since I wanted to gather feedback in regards to the Democratic powerhouses only. This is the last day of the poll so if you would like to add your vote to it - feel free. While the results on my poll are small, it does provide some insight to what most Americans are feeling right now.

More iPhone rumors

Internet discussions are building steam concerning a June 2008 release of iPhone 3G. I have a tendency to believe that Apple can't resist tempting millions of Americans with freshly printed tax rebate checks. A release of the new model would certainly go hand-in-hand with the governments economic stimulus plan - aka Operation Spend that Money

Of course I would feel much better if we heard this information directly from CEO Steve Jobs.

Here are the latest internet clippings about the 3G phone.

Ars Technica.com - Not so sure about June 08 release

TalkiPhone.com - June production and release

CrunchGear - Fox reports iPhone in June

Sunday morning after ramblings

Just a few items worth blogging about this morning......

A few of you may be into the latest technological devices on the market. I am a techno-freak. If it blinks, buzzes or beeps......its for me. I have recently discovered that I have a always had a thermometer/navigational system in my presence for which I was not consciously (I think I was ignoring it) aware. You have heard of Tom-Tom? I have Lyn-Lyn. "Turn left, turn right, slow down, you missed the exit, go back, there's a cop, COP!" Who needs a $300 device when I have Lyn-Lyn who provides navigational guidance AND can predict the exact air temperature just by venturing outside to walk the dog. It is truly amazing. :-/

Last night Lyn-Lyn and I ventured out to a WomenOutFront event featuring Tret Fure. You may remember her from the Chris & Tret duo. The whole Chris & Tret thing predates my life as a lesbian so shameful to say....I am not familiar with her music today or their music yesterday. She gave a very good performance and I think everyone present enjoyed the show. I was lucky enough to talk to her before her performance and we chatted about the current political campaigns and what we think is going to happen if Hillary is nominated or Barack is nominated. Her fears are the same as mine. If Barack wins, we may have more Hillary supporters swinging to the McCain side since they do have some similarities. As you recall, McCain was a supporter of civil unions up until the time he officially started thinking about running for president - then he did an about face to gain the evangelical vote. If Barack wins the nomination and McCain starts courting the gay vote.......he may gain the Hillary supporters who just can't vote for Barack. It is a big mess indeed.

At some point during the evening, there was food involved. I fixed a couple of small plates for Lyn-Lyn and I - identical food on each plate. However, identical food items aside, only one of us had the thrill on of an ongoing gastro-intestinal free-for-all shortly after we left the event. My navigational system Lyn-Lyn was seriously disabled all evening and into the wee hours of the morning. Yeah.....there shouldn't be a germ left in her body after this all-night fiesta. Egads!

I am happy to report that after almost a full bottle of Gatorade she is recuperating quietly. She must be feeling better because she is currently watching a Food Network show about the history of hotdogs. I am not allowed to order in any food at this point for the fear of starting up the carnival rides in her stomach again so I think I am now forced to eat alone this afternoon. So it looks like it will be a quiet Sunday afterall.

Oy vey!

The Oysters Won

Those of you who frequent this blog, or have ever had more than a 20 minute conversation with Rita, know she celebrates a self-proclaimed holiday each March.

It's called Oysterfest. Today was the, uh, opening shuck.

I don't care for oysters. Slimey, fried, smoked, drowning in peppered vodka, or any of the 47 other ways they appear on the menu.

But I'm loyal. And they do have half-price bar items from 4-7.

Y'all will be glad to know she's survived and is crashed on the sofa in an oyster (vodka?) coma.

March madness indeed.

The L Word

Ok.....we now know that this pitiful season was not a dream and that next season is indeed the last season of The L Word.

Last night's episode was a good one. While I was happy to see Helena come in and save the day with "The Planet" I was struck by the sense of pity I had for Jenny when she walked in on Shane and Nikki. Yes yes I know.....I am the one (along with countless others) who thought Jenny should be killed off in some freakish movie set accident because I was simply fed up of all of her "big headed" antics. I did feel empathetic when she walked in on those two "in action". It was Shane at her finest but I never thought she would do it to Jenny. I think in those types of situations there really isn't much thinking going on period.

So now what could in store with Season Six? I surely hope that the last season is filled with some creative writing moments with storylines that don't teeter on the edge of lunacy. Let's get back to the basics. I hope they can end the season with a few surprises but with closed chapters so that we are not all sitting there wondering what more could have been.

Sunday evening ramblings

I was reminded today that I haven't posted in awhile. Not that I needed that reminder because I was fully aware that I just didn't have anything intriguing to blog about this week.

But alas......last night was the Springsteen concert. I was very impressed. He is quite the act on stage for a 58 year old man. The crowd at the concert was much as I expected - 40 to 55 year old people. There were a few under 30 who attended with their parents. It was quite nice to see dads and sons or nuclear families all enjoying the music of a legendary songwriter. I would suspect that most of the 80's bands (Styx, REO Speedwagon, The Police, etc) have similar age group attendance when they perform special shows from time to time.

Overall it was a great show. He played most of the songs from his new album, Magic. I highly recommend that you take a listen to this compilation. The whole "E-Street Band" sound is unmistakable. It's like a walk down memory lane. Anywhoooo.....he had a four song encore (which was a tad bit disappointing since his other shows had five or six) which really rocked the house. He started with Glory Days then moved to Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark and ended with American Land. While he had audience participation throughout the show, the arena was more alive during the first three songs of the encore. All in all a job well done.

Today I enjoyed a Easter brunch at my mothers and then spent the afternoon working on some small projects around the house. What is it about a sunshiny day.....despite the temperature....that makes you just want to get out and start those Spring projects. It was a bit chilly here and I have been begging Mother Nature to begin the "warming up" process. Hasn't the first day of Spring passed or was it today? (sigh) I am not asking for much here....just a little warm up so I can really get started with my plantings, landscaping, and garage reorganization.

Those who were suggesting that I post something may be disappointed in this rather mundane post today. Ahhh well.....this week will surely prove to be a lively and busy week for me and I know that I will not have to look far for more entertaining fodder.

TA TA!

Six Word Memoir

Thanks to Martini Cartwheels for tagging us with this interesting task on a Saturday night!



The Six Word Memoir
The rules are:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!



Who needs carb free foods anyway?