mi cumpleanos

yall

though my actual day of birth was hampered a bit by the weird swollen gland neck ache, my birthday weekend was outstanding.

on Friday night we had an early softball game and we WON! the other team was real nice and we had lots of fun. after the game jes went out to eat with nikki and i had dinner with my work folks at la fonda. after that we went over to one of our teammate jen's house. she had this really lovely house and an amazing backyard with a fire pit. we watched some of the debate and then went outside, chatted and played catchphrase. my team lost TWICE. ugh.

on saturday jes and i went recycling, got cat food, i bought some running shoes (thanks jes's parents) and we went to the batting cages. after a little nap and a shower we headed to east atlanta to the midway pub for drinks, tater tots and lots of friends. it was so great to see everyone and take a minute to chat with them. we had the place to ourselves almost for the first hour and then this guy came and set up a huge screen because they were showing the UGA v. Alabama game. Slowly but surely all kinds of folks be-decked in UGA gear started filling up the tables and sort of glaring at us. We finished up at the midway and then some of us proceeded to mary's a gay bar down the road.

here is a photo of jes and me:



here is one of baj, his sweetie robby and me. i didn't get to talk to them too much b/c they were at the other end of the table, but baj promised to find some time so we could all hang out. aren't they adorable?



here's one of sarah, kim and dawn:



and angie and elin:



a couple of our new softball friends came too. here is a picture of beth, odette, and andi:



some folks from from the bsl office stopped by too. i not only got to see seema and lindsey, but anthony was in town too, so we got to chat about medical school and chicago and da bears. like all the other pictures, i am the shortest one:



as things started wrapping up at the midway, and the dawgs fans got more drunk, most folks headed home and we headed to mary's for a few more drinks. i dropped some idke flyers at sisters and this woman named "moonshine" followed me back to mary's. she kept telling me how cute i was and when i introduced her to jes she asked jes if she could "borrow" me. she was real real drunk and pretty much hijacked our table and the conversation. she just kept saying the same thing over and over and wanted me to give her some of my wine. it got so bad that nikki and ria moved to another table. this has actually happened to us a few times when we sit outside at mary's-it just attracts the nutballs i guess. anywho left eventually and we had a great time chatting.

here is me and nikki and if you can see the boobs on the other side of nikki, those are moonshine's:



i didn't get to talk to angie b. much at the first bar but it was ok because we got to talk a bunch at mary's. here is a picture of us:



at the end there were only four of us left: jes, me, kiki, and ria. i am not sure why we were laughing so hard in this picture, but i think its cute. jes says its b/c the guy taking the picture pointed at her and said "you gotta smile"-- either way, i like it:



i was dead tired when we got home but didn't get to sleep in that much because larry woke me up and then billy joel next door kept me up.

we saw "burn after reading" this afternoon. it was pretty good- darker and more violent that i was prepared for, but great characters and a few twists and turns. jes doesn't recommend it as a theater movie, more a dvd movie. i think it could go either way.

i'm tired so i am going to hit the hay.
today is my friend emma's bday. happy bday emma c.!

dj bday retrospective

before i post about my amazing birthday weekend THIS YEAR...

lets take a photo walk down memory lane to see how my birthdays went for the last three years (that is how long we have had our digital camera). really what this is about is if i can tell i am aging. my friend dawn told me you don't really age from 30-33 and then from 33-35 you really age. lets see if she's right.

Ok, September 2005: we had just moved to Brooklyn and Jes and I spent my bday having a picnic on the beach at Fire Island. It was dreamy:



Then September 2006: we are still living in brooklyn but LUCKILY angie and elin got married the day before my bday, so here is a picture of a bunch of us at that splendid event (happy late anniversary yall, by the way) and then a picture of the two blushing brides and their sweet muffin niecey:





Last year (September 2007): we had just moved back to atlanta a few months earlier so we were getting back into the swing of things. some friends met us up at the standard for drinks and maybe a tater tot or two:



and then finally as a teaser, here is where it started this year: me and jes at the midway pub BEFORE they started to show the UGA vs. Alabama game:



i think what you will find across the years is this:

1. i have some hot friends

2. many of the same folks are showing up in the pictures over the years, which shows you that my friends are not only hot, but also close to my heart. shoot i am welling up in the eyes.

3. there is quite a bit of hairstyle changes (even for me!) and that in general i think the kids i hang with have some pretty good fashion

4. i think i have aged, what do you think (be honest it won't hurt my feelings- like cheese and wine i think age makes you better).

oh by the way, billy joel is playing "i'm squishing up my baby bumblebee" on the piano, in case you are wondering. again, great for a hangover.

sleepy sunday

it was a good weekend filled with lots of fun
i am a bit sad its sunday because that means tomorrow is monday

the boys are circling because they want to be fed for the twelfth time today
so lemme give you a little run down of how it went

1. friday night i had a softball game. it was hilarious nightmare. we played this team that was CLEARLY not a rec team, but instead a competitive team. they annihilated us. i mean seriously one inning they scored over ten runs on us. home run after home run over the fence. they even got a grand slam. i think my shining moment of the game was when they hit a ball to right field (where I was playing) and i ran for it, missed it, and the momentum of my speedy running kept me moving and i crashed into the chain link fence, fell down, got up and then got the ball and threw it to my cut off. they scored a few runs while i made an ass of myself, but at least i stuck with it. after the game we had a couple beers at our coach's house. we chatted and had fun, and then come home and went to bed.

2. on saturday morning i did a little work and drank some coffee. then jes and i suited up and rode our bikes to east atlanta for the the east atlanta strut. it was a hard ride in places, but we got to go through so many lovely neighborhoods that i am glad we did it. i was a sweaty mess when we arrived, but i don't think anyone cared. i got to see lots of friends while i was there and distribute some IDKE flyers so it was all about multitasking. we ate some bbq and watched the parade and just chatted and stuff. my favorite part was the marching band from some high school. they really rocked it out. the ride home was easier than the ride there and though i was sweaty, it was a good work out. my favorite part of going to the strut was that jes said before we left "i wish we could bring aaden with us to the strut." yes that is right, jes wanted us to take aaden from jon and kate plus 8 with us. he is our favorite:



they call him "the professor"



3. last night jes's folks took us to la taviola for my birthday. we had a nice chianti, an antipasta with olives and delicious parmesan cheese, and then for dinner i had a wonderful pasta with mushrooms and pecorino cheese. and then for dessert we had this amazing flourless chocolate cake with- get this- olive oil and sea salt. jes LOVES the mixture of chocolate and sea salt now. we talked about politics and it got a little heated, but we all made friends in the end. lets just say her dad was talking about marxism and we were laughing at the fact that we were defending a somewhat centrist democratic party. after we left her parents we went and got a drink at everybody's with our friend christina. christina gives the best hugs ever. its like a hug AND a spinal adjustment. after that, it was home and to bed.

4. this morning i got up kind of late (like 9am) and then did some work. we fed leah and katie's cats, got some groceries, and then did some more work. then this evening we went and tried to register folks to vote at the kroger on dekalb industrial. we only registered one guy. everyone else either glared at us or had already registered. i was encouraged by the fact that most folks we talked to had already registered. after that we picked up a pizza came home and now we are watching nancy drew. larry is zonked out on jes's lap and horace is asleep on the floor. pretty soon i am going to be asleep too.

hope you have a great week!

more babies than you can shake a stick at

yall

I am happy to announce the birth of Baltazar James.
His moms are Donna B. (we used to do drag together) and Suzanne.
He is only a few days old and looks pretty perfect to me:



this morning i am exhausted from a long work week. i had something pretty much every day after work and yesterday along with working all day, i also did yoga during lunch (it was amazing) and then had a softball double header (i played in the first one and then just batted in the second one). i am much less sore than i thought i would be, i think b/c i did yoga, so my plan is to keep that up on fridays so i can make it through our friday games.

let me just interrupt my blog to say that some little kid is outside SCREAMING at the top of his lungs. this, of course, comes right after billy joel stopped playing the piano, which he started at 8:18 THIS MORNING. i know you wish you were here.

so after our game last night we went out to trackside with some of our softball folks and it was really fun. i had one too many beers (read: three) and i am nursing a bit of a headache because of it. jes and i played a little pool (we lost) and then she played some darts too. it was just nice to get to know the folks we play with a little bit better.

Today is about errands, maybe some work and then a birthday party tonight. I am going to get me some decaf coffee.

Happy Saturday!

so yeah...

good morning all

i have been up since before 7am because larry woke me up and my brain started working and then there was no going back to bed. i intend to take a nap today to make it up.

it's 8:26 a.m. on a Sunday morning and our next door neighbor started playing "mary had a little lamb" on the piano about ten minutes ago. explain to me why they think that is ok ON A FUCKING WEEEKEND?

jes is asleep. i was waiting to grind my coffee beans so i wouldn't wake them up and here they go playing their motherfucking piano that early on a sunday. what gives? i like our neighbors. they are nice people with a four month old baby that i NEVER hear crying but i am about to write a letter about the piano. seriously, it gives me a headache.

anywho... i don't have any real funny stories or exciting news to report here. i haven't been posting b/c work and teaching have been kicking my ass really. i feel like i am moving a the speed of light most days and i can't wait to get in bed most nights. today is a beautiful sunny day. i plan to do a bunch of work, maybe do some laundry, and then i have a meeting at 4pm. but first i will make some decaf coffee.

i am excited to report that i have begun playing on a softball team. its a woman's league which means the majority of the folks playing are lesbians, so that is kind of cool. i played on friday and am so sore because of it. this is even AFTER i did 1.5 hours of yoga AND got a massage. yes, folks, i am getting old. its official. i played second base. i wasn't great, but it was my first game in almost ten years, so i think i should cut myself some slack. i was a little bit better batting, but not much. i just hope they let me play again.

i have two pictures for you today. the first is of ali and baby harvey. its about the sweetest thing i have ever seen:



and the next one is of my doppleganger, also known as my nephew ben. i got him some batman temporary tattoos and here he is sporting one:



hope those two pics brighten your morning.

happy sunday!