Cruised Or Profiled 2

First off...today marks the fifth anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death. My parents actually have a marriage certificate hanging in their bedroom with his likeness giving official blessings. Heh...bet nobody thought I'd be talking about the pope with the title entry being what it is.

In addition today is also the fifth anniversary of Half & Half, Tit & Tat. I can't believe it's been five years since I've first penned my first post(funny how I keep referring to that first post every anniversary...*LOL*). I'll admit that in the last two years I haven't blogged with the frequency that I had in the beginning. I guess like all relationships you have to work to keep the spice alive. I'm not giving up on blogging just yet. Although I hit a record low last month with only one entry for March 2010. Bad bad bad....*LOL*.

So last night after a late night booty call, I made a late night pit stop to a local grocer. It was the end of another uneventful April Fools Day. I was surprised actually Eugene didn't play a joke on me with his whimiscal self.

Hemingway I was making my way to the store and I saw out of my side eye this studly white guy making his way to the grocer as well. I smiled to myself as I entered the store. Yesterday was really nice and it actually hit the upper 70's (possibly low 80's) in Chicago. So I was sporting my Polo Chino shorts with a form fitting t-shirt and some flip flops. I thought I was the cat's meow.

Apparently so did he.

Next thing I know, I felt like I was having a repeat of my "Cruised Or Profiled" moment from years back, ironically on the 1st of the month as well. Hmm.

Hemingway I grabbed a basket and he slowly walked by me. I didn't notice any eye contact but I got my first full frontal look at him and damn he was hot. So he started walking past the produce section as I detoured into the produce. I kept a steady eye on him as he slowly walked down the far aisle.

As I finished perusing the produce and the bakery section, I made my way towards the freezer section. I was stunned to see him just standing by the corner of the freezer aisle, seemingly just staring into open space.

I smiled to myself as I walked past him and continued my shopping. I crossed over to the wine section and came back out to the rear aisle. I ran into him again and noticed he had no items in his hand. Hmm.

By the third run in I was thinking damn, am I really being cruised? I admit I wanted to say something to him but every thought I had sounded stupid. 'Do you have the time?' (Uh..it was almost midnight.) 'Nice weather we're having.' (And?) Hmm...maybe I should've used the classic 'Can I blow the hair from your eyes?' Where did I hear that line before? Probably some trite movie I've long forgotten. I guess the loose translation would be offering him a blowjob.

But you know I did none of those things. Eventually I went off to pay for my items and the rest you can say is history. Needless to say it did give my ego a nice boost.

Who knows? Maybe by the time "Cruised Or Profiled 3" comes along, I'll have a happier ending. Though technically I had one earlier that night so I was good to go....*LOL*.

Back to work...:-)

Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics

Chorus:
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world
And the seven seas--
Everybody's looking for something.

Bridge 1:
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused.

Ad-lib:
oooh, yeah, whoa

Repeat Chorus

Repeat Ad-lib

Bridge 2:
(Hold your head up--Keep your head up--moving on)
(Hold your head up--moving on--Keep your head up--moving on)
(Hold your head up--moving on--Keep your head up--moving on)
(Hold your head up--moving on--Keep your head up)

Repeat Bridge 1

Repeat Chorus x 3

I just woke up from an experience I haven't had in a long time. I was dreaming that I was in some restroom relieving myself. Moments later this attractive security guard came up to me after I was done with my business. He was grabbing me by my waist and guiding me down some hallway. He was asking me what I was doing and then started giving me his phone number. I was reaching in my pocket to find a pen and he was repeating the number.

At the same time I felt myself waking up and felt like cumming. Instinctively I was holding myself to keep from soiling my pants and bed. I woke up and ran to the bathroom. About ten minutes later a combination of semen and urine came out.

I can't believe I just had a wet dream or in more technical terms a nocturnal emission. I haven't had one of those in almost nine years, which is around the time I "late bloomed" myself into discovering the art of masturbation. Since I stopped having wet dreams immediately afterward, I figured that was the end of it.

I did have a wild random rendezvous last Thursday. The guy was ten years younger than me (27) and was pounding the hell out of me. Maybe it was residual effects from that I was experiencing this morning. Who knows? Nonetheless it was an interesting way to wake up this morning and even if it's TMI, I thought I'd record it for posterity.

I think I'm going to have a good workout today.

Buffalo Stance

Happiness is finally walking into a local Chicago area Subway and finding out they have Buffalo Chicken on their menu.    I've only been waiting three years to try that sub.   It's available for a limited time so of course the minute I saw it, I had to try it.    So after the long wait, was it worth it you say?   It was good, not the best.    But I was satiated.

Speaking of Buffalo Stance....check out this classic song from the 80's.:

E-Cast

I thought since it's been a minute, I should recap all the cast of folks that have come and gone in my life and made impacts, whether positive or negative. These are folks that I've blogged about in the past and may blog about in the future. So Hemingway without further adieu, let's start with...

I M M E D I A T E
F A M I L Y

Mom and Dad - They're pretty self-explanatory. I was blessed to be raised by both and even though times weren't ever easy, I wouldn't trade my parents for the world. Well except maybe my Mom for Big Dee....*LOL*. Just joking.

Tasha - My older sister by one year and four months. She beats to the beat of her own drum, which sometimes takes a bit of time to figure out. But her off beat personality makes her unique and I'll always love her.

Trina - My younger sister by six years. She's the social butterfly of the family. Her street cred personality sometimes clashes with my "bougie" side but we love one another and will no doubt watch out for each other.

F R I E N D S

Sally - She's my closest ally in the world and my #1 fag hag (sorry Reesie...*LOL*). We've known each other for almost 15 years and I have no doubt we have each other's back. Even though we live an hour apart, we keep in touch constantly.

No_The_Game - Since the day I met her at Caribou Coffee over three years ago, she's been a constant presence in my life. I enjoy hearing her unique insights on relationships and have met some of her close friends, which has been a cool experience.

Eugene - Eugene's my ace-in-the-hole, homie, ace boon coon. Since the fateful day I met him on A4A, he's always willing to toss his two cents on various issues in my life, even if I don't ask for it. He's a true kid at heart down to his crazy practical jokes, which one day I plan to get even with him on. I may have a potential ally to help me there...*LOL*.

Doug, Rick, and Keith - Those three are my college buddies from way back. Even though we all don't keep in touch as much as we should, whenever one of us is in need, one or all of us pulls together to help out. And actually Doug and I have gotten closer since I shared the gayer side of E. I look forward to visiting Doug at some point in the future.

Stan - I met him at my job when I first moved to Chicago. He's a good natured guy married with two kids who is my go-to person for real estate queries.

W O R K
A C Q U A I N T A N C E S

Ling - She's my crazy Asian co-worker without the filter. Lately she's been taming her tongue and we're in different groups now. The layoffs that our company's being having lately have likely calmed her a bit.

Dan - As Ling becomes calmer, Dan's become more cut throat. My new boss has told me that he's bad mouthed me to her in the past and he's become less trustworthy. He's one that I definetly have to watch out for.

SLAB - The funny acronym I gave my former Slightly Less Annoying Boss. He's moved on to bigger better things in the company

Fussy - He's my crazy business user who I continue to support. He can be demanding but one thing I do like about him is that he knows his shit.

Happy - Happy continues to be the happy-go-lucky guy of the group. He was actually one of the first ones to tell me not to trust Dan years before I realized Dan's two-faced personality. His instincts were definitely on the mark. He's currently on medical leave after having surgery on a defective heart valve. He's doing well and hopefully will be back in the office sometime in July.

Smooth - Smooth is the Billy Dee Williams cat daddy that I befriended years back. He was a victim of our last round of layoffs but he's doing it for himself as a consultant of his own firm he's trying to get off the ground.

Reid - He's my crazy former bowling buddy who was also a victim of our last round of layoffs. But he was recently rehired back in the company for a smaller salary (a trend that a lot of companies seem to be doing these days).

Deidre - My ditsy greek former teammate. She's over in a different part of the company and is adjusting to life as a mother and wife. Every now and then we keep in touch via work email to see what the latest happenings are.

M E N S E S

(Preface: I've had a lot of menses that I blogged about over the years so I won't list them all....just a few that were somewhat significant in one way or another.)

Vince - The only reason why I'm listing this jerk is because he was the first guy I've blogged about. He was my "coming out" guy to the blogworld. I've no idea what he's doing these days and I don't care.

Chad - He was the crazy 20-something that I had a date or two before finally kicking to the curb. He had issues up to the wazoo. Despite our rough going, I actually hope things are okay for him and hopefully he's matured a bit by now.

Rock - What can I say? He was my first real boyfriend. We had a lot of good times and a lot of bad times. I've learned so much from my two years dating him. We fell out of touch recently but I will always wish him well.

Midas - He was the guy that introduced me to my wild side sexually. One thing I didn't mention about him (not that it matters...guess that's why I didn't mention it) is that he's caucasian. As much as Midas satisfied me sexually, I unfortunately knew that he ultimately wouldn't give me what I desire....a monogamous relationship.

And introducing....Colin - You may be hearing a little bit more about him. He potentially could be my new boyfriend. I met him while visiting Eugene in Boston during Memorial weekend. Meeting Colin was the most random thing too. He caught me viewing his profile and basically he asked me if I was visiting the Boston area that weekend, which I was. We met and hit it off and have been chatting daily since. I actually am planning another trip to Boston in a couple weeks to meet him exclusively. I may be able to sneak a lunch or dinner with Eugene....*LOL*.


So there you have it....the cast of characters that have impacted E in one way or another in the real world. No doubt you'll hear more about them and future characters as I continue to blog. PEACE!

The Big 8 8 08 Post

I'm alive.

I just had to post something today since it's all eights. I wonder if there's a lot of weddings today.

Work has been insane. I'm conflicted with feelings that I wish they'd lay me off already and the whole 'thank goodness I have a job' jazz. This project is trying to do me in. I don't think I can take it anymore.

But I went jet skiing two weekends ago in Lake Geneva with Rock and his best friend Ned (and his boo...*LOL*). In between freaking out about drowning (and the making a joke that if I did, at least I didn't have to deal with work), I actually had fun.

Well I got to get ready for you know what.

I'll try to post more often and visit my fellow bloggers. I've been bad at doing so these last few weeks. Ciao.

Three Years Later

Today marks the third anniversary of my blog. It's amazing that I've made it to the three year mark. It's not my longest relationship. That title currently belongs to my job. But it's one of my most fruitful. Where else can I go to express my deepest craziest thoughts? I mean I can tell folks but they'll call me crazy. Well some of my visitors have called me crazy but it's less of a sting on paper. Almost.

Here's a compilation of the top 5 experiences I've blogged about that gave my readers cause to question my sanity.

#5) I had drunken unprotected sex with a perfect stranger.

#4) I contemplated literally mailing my heart to Rock.

#3) I risked getting eaten alive by Star Jones.

#2) I lived on a diet of lemonade, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water. (And then did it three more times.)

....And the Number 1 entry that had readers calling me crazy.

#1) I paid a visit to Chad, who was deemed certifiable by the majority. (Plus the title was crazy.)

The year is still young. So I'm sure there'll be plenty more crazy things that will happen. Hell something crazy may happen when I visit Baltimore in a couple weeks. It'll definitely be a chance to interact with some of my fellow bloggers. You all know if anything crazy happens that it'll go right here. I might not post it right away but eventually it'll get a mention.

Toe Jam

I didn't want my last post of 2007 to be about cock blocking. Today my mind's focused on another body part. That would be my toes. Can you believe I pulled a Bart Simpson and bumped my toes against the same set of weights that I had lying on the floor? The first time I did it was earlier Sunday as I settling in to watch the first half of Grosse Pointe on DVD. That show was so ahead of its time and it's a total shame it didn't make it to another season. The pain pretty much subsided right away. But later on in the day as I go back downstairs to finish off the rest of the DVD, I bumped my toes again (specifically my toe nearest the baby). This time, though, the pain is lingering. I don't think I broke it, though. So I've been doing a bit of the RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) method to heal it. Hopefully the pain will be gone in a couple days if not sooner.

So I just wanted to send a message to wish everyone a safe New Year's whatever your plans are. And watch out for the toes...*LOL*.

Getting Myself Together

No...I'm not merging my blog with Norris's infamous blog with the same title. I'm just a bit slow with getting myself back into the swing of things. I traveled to Detroit this past weekend to hang with family. Sally tagged along with me and I finally got around to opening my lock to her.

But I just wanted to let everyone know (in case you're wondering) that I'm still alive. Hopefully I'll get it together soon and catch everyone up with more details of my last few days. Until then...PEACE!

New Bag Tag

Post #301 (yeah my last entry on the fight for my time between my man and my friend was my 300th entry...woo hoo!) is none other than a tag by Mr Sean Stone. It's been a while since I've been tagged by anyone so I welcome the challenge.

So Hemingway...

The rules of this game:

• Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.


• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.


• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post.


• Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

First rule....done. Free advertising done. I'm willing to support the cause...*LOL*.

Second rule....hmm. Okay here we go.

1) I got excited once when I met Ariel Growth Fund manager (at the time) Eric McKissack at O'hare years back near baggage claim. I knew of him reading articles featuring him at Black Enterprise. He seemed surprised that anyone would recognize him. He's a sexy guy as well but of course I didn't tell him that.

2) I also met an economist occasionally featured in Black Enterprise sometime in 2004 while stuck in a four hour layover on a trip to Denver, Colorado. Her name was Dr. Margaret Simms who's part of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies group. I was overly excited to meet her as well and like Mr. Mckissack, she was surprised to be recognized.

3) My trip to Denver involved meeting a guy from Atlanta for a weekend booty call. The significance being that neither of us ever visited Denver before.

4) If I wasn't working in IT, I wouldn't mind being a school teacher. My range of kids that I'd want to teach would be from pre-school to 4th grade.

5) I once did the #2 on the carpet of a major retail store. Of course I was a kid then. I also hid behind a store mirror and wall.

6) My first near death experience happened when a church chandelier almost came crashing down my head. It happened while I helped out cleaning it.

7) I lucked out once on not getting a $375 speeding ticket. The cop about to give me one received a call about another pressing emergency. I was still grateful and shook his hand.

The third and fourth rules I'm going to bypass. If anyone reading this wants to do their own 7 random or weird facts, go right ahead and do so.

Brand New Baby

I finally went about and did it. I have a new car in my life. For years I've been driving the same Chevrolet model. I purchased the same model after my first one got totaled in 2000. My newer Cavalier has given me well over seven years of service. But since I've been driving the same car for over 11 years, I thought it was time for a change.

Anyone that knows me know that I've been talking about the change for a while now. But other things came up that delayed it. Second mortgage #1, new A/C and furnace, newer refi, slightly sucky credit. All these things stood in my way. But I finally took the plunge late September and purchased my new 2007 ride.

The color Pebble Beach wasn't my first choice, but I liked the way it's overly equipped Super Black cousin handled. Plus thanks to Car Bargains and Fighting Chance websites, I was able to get a pretty decent deal. I say decent because the dealer still managed to get a couple hundred dollars more out of me than I should've allowed. But you know that hindsight, foresight crap. But it was a better deal than I likely would've gotten on my own. I recommend those looking for a new car try the services out. Car bargains actually calls several dealers in the area scouring for the best deal. Fighting Chance gives you the lowdown on the car you want and statistics on how they've sold as well as invoice and retail prices on the standard model and its options. But enough free advertising...*LOL*.

Rock even drove me down to the dealership of my choice on his way to see his folks. So it was great having that extra support. It took almost four hours but I drove out of there with my brand new baby. Any guesses on the model? Here are a few pics.

Seeing The Green Light

I really haven't been in the blogging mood but I've been really digging Beyonce's video Green Light. It seems lady B has been going into video overload, making a video for practically every song off her B-Day album, which I still don't own. Assuming it's not all computer generated, I have to give props to lady B for her work in wearing some tall ass stilettos and still being able to perform impressive moves. Of particular interest in the link provided below are minutes (the time counts down in the link below) 2:17 - 2:10, 1:47 (her backup dancers standing on one stilettoed foot...and yeah I know they're holding some pole but still) and 1:35 - 1:33. Plus she gave love to women that aren't typically featured in music videos. Of course some could argue she only included them to make herself look skinny. Hemingway here's a link to her music video.



Ohhh...and En Vogue was the bomb last weekend. I saw Terri, Maxine, Cindy, and Rhona performing at Country Club Hills. They still got it going on in the looks department. If I were playing on their team, I'd so tap their asses, particularly Rhona's. Rhona really blends in well with the rest of the group. I even took a couple pictures of them performing (though I only caught Maxine and Rhona) on my camera phone. Unfortunately I'm not able to transfer them on my PC.

I had no idea V-103 was sponsoring the concert series until I saw Troi (with an I) Tyler coming up on stage. Not to mention all the reserved seats for various V-103 staffers near the front. Toni Tone Tony also performed and while I was there particularly for En Vogue, they did a great job with their set. I never realized how many hit singles they've had over the years. The concert was a real treat.

Rock E Team

I mentioned recently about my gruesome discovery under my deck and how I was going about alleviating the problem by purchasing rocks to put on the sides of my deck and near the stairway. I had gotten five bags of rocks tht only took care of part of the issue. The most I could load in my Cavalier was 5 bags since each weighed about 20 pounds. I anticipated that I would need to make at least 3 more trips to Home Depot to get more rocks.

So I was pleasantly surprised when Rock called me Saturday afternoon and offered to come by Sunday and help me get the rocksat Home Depot. He drives a truck so it would be able to load a lot more bags than my car. I happily took him up on his offer.

So Sunday comes and we're making our trip(s) to Home Depot to buy the gravel. While he's there, he picks up some patio furniture for his place. We decided initially to get 8 bags.

It was cool shopping with Rock. In fact we both marveled how it felt like we were a couple. Rock even saw a casual acquiantance with his partner that was shopping.

So eventually we get to my place with the rocks and proceed to unload the truck and eventually start filling up around the deck. While doing this, my neighbor Ms. Bliss came outside to water her flowers. She and I made small talk about the recent deck discovery and then she said how nice it was for "my friend" to help me with the rocks. I agreed and we eventually went back to our business.

After finishing laying out the bags, we concluded that we would probably need about 8 more bags. We went inside to wash up. While inside, Rock asked me if I thought that Ms. Bliss knew about us. I told Rock that it very well was possible. I mean, my neighbors have seen Rock's truck numerous times over the months and they're not stupid. As I mentioned before, I've come to accept that my neighbors likely know me as the "gay, black neighbor" (there aren't many blacks where I live). Plus there was one time when Rock and I were making out on the stairs and we heard Ms. Bliss on the other side of the wall shuffling around. That freaked us out at the time. So yeah, she likely knows but thankfully was making polite conversation with me.

So after our second trip to Home Depot, we were laying out the remaining rocks. It wasn't long before Mrs. Catlover approached me. She came over under the guise of wanting to get information on who I used to get rid of my unwanted pests. She then said hi to "my friend" and said I should pay him for helping me out. I cracked up and said I'd take him to lunch. We chatted about the dead animals again and eventually she left.

I had a feeling Ms. Bliss and Mrs. Catlover couldn't wait to meet my boyfriend. I could only imagine what they were saying among themselves.
I have to admit I really felt like Rock and I were truly a team. He told me that he wanted me to know that he had my back. He said he didn't want me to go through my recent ordeal alone. I think I found me a good one.

My Pet Cemetery

I first noticed the slightly offensive aroma coming from somewhere near my front door when I finally arrived home Monday evening. It was after 11PM, though, so I thought nothing much of it as I retreated instead. Tuesday morning I go outside to water the flowers my parents and I planted the week before. The odor seems a little stronger. I'm thinking something must've died under my cement steps. But I needed to get ready for work so I don't really have time to investigate. I come home Tuesday evening and notice the smell is still lingering. I head into my basement and notice the smell down there as well. I work to eliminate the odor from my basement.

As Wednesday rolled along, I started noticing maggots crawling along my house walls. It appeared the origin of the maggots were from under my deck. To try and alleviate the problem, I pour some hot water with Pine Sol and headed to work. By Wednesday evening, I started to have a fly problem.

I told Eugene about my problem and he immediately went into psycho mode. He was making all these wild animal noises saying that if I go investigate, I may lose a limb. It was part funny but part creeping me out.

I also told Rock about it and he went into protective mode. He mentioned that putting the Pine Sol over the stench may have been making the problem worse. Plus he was concerned that Thursday was gonna be a scorcher and whatever was dead would be stinking much worse.

He was right.

By Thursday evening, I had enough. I decided I needed to tear up my deck and find out the source of the odor. Taking the nails out of a row proved to be a slow task. I had to deal with the heat, mosquitos, and the lingering odor. I wanted to retch a couple times.

Eugene was continuing to tease me on the line as I prepared for my gruesome task. I was just hoping that I picked the right board to remove.

After about an hour, I finally removed the last of the nails and proceeded to remove the board. Bullseye! I found the source of the bad odor. It was an unidentified badly decomposing animal. I had no clue what it could be. I decided to take a couple pictures of it on my digital camera.

My neighbor's mother came outside and I showed her the pictures. She had no clue what it could be and mentioned that my neighbor Felix would be home shortly and she'd ask him. Felix came about fifteen minutes later and after coming over to take a closer look at it, thought it was a cat.

Another neighborhood couple (Mr. & Mrs. Catlover) across the street from me was missing their cat for well over a month. Felix suggested I contact them to see if it was their cat. I was a bit reluctant since I wasn't 100% that it was a cat but I went to look for a flyer that said neighbors left in my mailbox. I dialed the home number but got a busy tone so I dialed the cell phone number and got Mr. Catlover. I told him what I found and that I wasn't sure if it was their cat or not but needed him to look. Only problem was that Mr. Catlover was in Michigan. He suggested I dial the home number again for Mrs. Catlover. I told him I would but decided I needed a shower after that gruesome discovery.

Immediately afterwards I quickly changed clothes and then dialed the home number. This time the line was free. Mrs. Catlover answered and I told her what I found and she said she would be over shortly. By that time it was pitch dark so I turned on my patio lights. About five minutes later she came over to investigate.

It wound up being quite an emotional scene. She used a stick to move the body around trying to see whether or not the animal was her cat or not. There didn't appear to be any evidence of such but she wound up getting quite emotional over it. I wasn't sure what to do so I went inside to get some paper towels in case she wanted to wipe her eyes. I bought it out and had a bit of an awkward moment since she wasn't exactly receptive to the paper towels. Mrs. Catlover eventually told me to ring Ms. Bliss's doorbell to tell her about it.

After a few minutes, Ms. Bliss came outside and immediately ran to the scene. Ms. Bliss and Mrs. Catlover were both remarking on how they thought they saw the cat running in my yard. Both recounted experiences with other cats they owned. After a while Ms. Bliss was looking at the carcass and was beginning to doubt it was a cat. As Mrs. Catlover and I were looking at it closer, we eventually began having doubts about it ourselves. Later on Mrs. Catlover concluded that it wasn't her cat and thanked me before walking off with Ms. Bliss.

I think I may have had a psychosomatic episode because I immediately began eating everything in sight once I went back in the house. You'd think eating would be the last thing I'd want to do considering what I found. But there I was eating Pringles chips & corn on the cob. Nice combo, huh?

The experience was quite the shocker and I still had the issue of the dead carcass under my deck. By now the smell was getting quite unbearable. I decided that I was going to work from home that Friday and hopefully contact some kind of Animal Service to dispose of the animal.

After a bit of the okie doke from my association, I realized that I would have to pay someone to get rid of it. That suited me fine since I had no desire to touch it myself. I contacted a service and the guy came a little after 12:30 PM Friday.

He identified the dead animal as a possum. When he picked it up, though, he changed the identity of the animal to a raccoon. Then he shocked me by saying there was also a dead skunk under my deck. I didn't even see the skunk but sure enough he pulled it out. Disgusting.

I paid for the cleanup and then after he put some bleach on the area, I added some more hot water and Pine Sol on the deck to clean it out some more. By later in the afternoon, no more evidence of my previous nightmare remained. Thankfully the flies had moved on to other disgusting meals.

I went to Home Depot to buy a bunch of granite rocks. Rock suggested the idea to fill up the area around my deck with the rocks to maybe keep the vermin from making a home under my deck. Apparently the idea of rocks was there before but there weren't many rocks currently in place. I think part of the issue is that some of the neighborhood kids may have over the years removed rocks from there. I'm wondering if I may need some chicken wire for good measure. I certainly don't want to encounter another surprise like that again anytime soon.

I'm Alive

...barely.

Okay. Maybe barely is not the right word. Let's just say I'm existing.

I'll be brief today.

Work's a bear. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Same old story there and I don't even want to think about where I wanted to be and how I'm not there yet. It's been depressing.

I want to get another car. I'm wrestling the age old demons. Questions like...do I want a car note, my insurance rates will jump up, what if I get jacked up financing? So I'm trying to clean up my credit first. That basically entails knocking out or pairing down my one card.

I also found this great website that I recommend anyone that's looking to get a new car look at. That's why I'm trying to clean up my credit first (or get it as clean as possible) before buying so I can get good finance terms.

On the bright side, Rock and I celebrate our six month anniversary today. He's actually seeing his family this weekend so we'll hook up on Sunday. We've had our ups and downs but through them all it seems we're trying to work it out.

As Janet Jackson would say..."They said it wouldn't last. We had to prove them wrong. Cause I've learned in the past. That love would never do without you."

Hemingway that's all for now. A few other things are going on but I don't have the energy to write about them just yet. Maybe next post.

Two Years Later

Today's my two year anniversary from when I first started blogging. It just amazes me that two years and 254 posts (including this one) later, that I'm still here.

It's been such a fun ride. It's also interesting looking at some of my past posts. What's nice is that my blog will be around for a while (barring a server explosion or a hacker gone mad) and maybe one day future generations can read about my trials and turbulations. I'm also imagining myself at 50 years old looking back at my writings and cringing, much like I did looking back on my old diary entries from high school and college.

The inspiration behind half my blog name is long gone. As everyone who have read my blog from the beginning knows, I was a big fan of the show Half & Half. I mean I even made a couple trips to L.A. just to see the show. The show was sadly cancelled when UPN and WB merged last fall.

I was actually contemplating writing some scripts for what Season 5 would've been like. Would Mona and Chase (you know she would've chosen him) still be together? What other obstacles could they be facing along the way? How about LDD and her work antics? Would she still be working as a sports agent or would she make the move to finding a law firm to work for? How would my favorite divas Phyllis, BDD, and Adam fare out Season 5? Of course, I can't forget Spencer. Or could I? *LOL*.

Hemingway blogging has given me the opportunity to interact with many other bloggers on here. It's cool reading everyone else's trials and turbulations. Also it's nice getting different perspectives on what I'm currently going through. I look forward to continuing this journey. I still have a lot of life to live and plenty of typing to give. Okay I know that line was corny but that's how I feel. PEACE!

All In The Signs

I was looking through an interesting Astrological website killing time before working out. I don't put 100% stock in astrology but at times I can see little pieces of truth in what the signs say. My particular interest stemmed from a Saturady morning bedside conversation with Rock talking about our signs. I inadvertently thought he was a Sagittarius instead of the Scorpio that he is.

We hung out Friday night and he stayed until Saturday morning. Earlier in the week, Rock was in the funkiest of moods. His excuse was that he had a lot going on with his family that was about to hit the fan. He was not talkative at all and in fact was quite hypersensitive. We had made the plans for Friday night about a week and a half before his funky state so I wasn't sure if we were still on or not. I was all set to make other plans but decided despite his behavior earlier in the week to see him when he asked for a confirmation last Thursday. We have this semi long distance thing going on and it had been two weeks since we last saw each other and I knew we wouldn't be seeing each other next weekend since I was going to Detroit again.

He came Friday night baring a gift of black jeans. They were a bit tight but wearable so I wore them to Red Lobster. (Remember when Red Lobster used to be good? *LOL*) So after Red Lobster, we came back to my place. We chilled out, got horny, and you know the rest. Considering Rock's behavior earlier in the week, I probably shouldn't have broken him off anything (session #2...we had our first time in early March). But I was horny plus Rock reassured a few times that he wasn't meeting me just for sex (though he wouldn't stop it...*LOL*). So what's done was done. And it was done again Saturday morning before he took off to see his family.

Okay...back to the website. Right?

So anyway the website above had some pretty detailed (for a free site) stuff out there. For example, there's more to the zodiac than just when you're born. Apparently your temperment and general outlook in life depends on where your planets were aligned the day you were born.

The site has a handy guide that tells you based on your birthdate tells you which zodiac the planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter aligned. For my birthdate, the planets were aligned as followed:

Venus was in Virgo. Mars was in Libra. Jupiter was in Capricorn.

From there, you can read individual profiles based on your alignment.

For Rock's birthate, the planets were aligned as followed:

Venus was in Sagittarius. Mars was in Virgo. Jupiter was in Virgo.

Venus is said to be used to represent love. Also compatibilities with others is dependent on where their Venus is in relation to yours. A link talking about my Venus in Virgo & Rock's Venus in Sagittarius is provided here and here.

Mars is said to reveal what makes us tick. It shows how we channel our aggressiveness, sexuality, and general drive. Interpretations for each of the Mars signs is provided in this link.

Jupiter is said to reveal how we express our generosity and tolerance. It shows how we go about trusting others and improving our lives. Interpretations of what Jupiter means in relation to the zodiac sign is provided in this link.

A lot of what was said was very interesting. What resonated as totally true was the depiction of my Mars In Libra. It really hit home when it mentioned how I procrastinate over things and see all possibilities before taking action. My recent Charles dilemma best illustrated this.

You know I was trying to compare Rock and my signs to see if we're a match made in heaven. So are we? It's hard to say since there seems to be many variables involved that I haven't looked into. But no matter how compatible we are, ultimately any relationship takes lots of work. If nothing else, the website provided some very good reading.

Courting Fate

Well I had my day in court. Aside from the annoying metal detector security guy (he's not even worth more than the brief mention), the overall outcome went better than expected. I was a few minutes late entering the court room, no thanks to the long ass metal detector line, in no part due to the incompetent security guy (emotional walls, E!!! emotional walls, E!!!...*LOL*). Of course, my cop was in the room. So there was no getting off. At least, nonsexually. Let me quit...*LOL*.

Hemingway I was a bit surprised when the cop sorta nodded at me as I parked myself in the back row. But I didn't get a chance to let that sink in before the clerk motioned me to identify myself. I walked up front towards the clerk and once my identity was confirmed, I parked myself in the front row. Moments later I saw a sign to the right of me saying only police and attorneys can sit up front. But nobody called me on it...so it was all good.

So moments later, the judge entered the chambers and after swearing in, the festivities began. Things started off with a lengthy case relating to a car accident and identifying which party was at fault. While this case was going on, I noticed my cop passed a note to the bailiff to pass to the judge. Interesting I thought.

So Hemingway the moment of truth came and it was time for me to go up. I quickly verified my insurance information. With that out of the way, the judge then asked for my plea on the speeding ticket. I pleaded guilty, of course. I nervously awaited his asking me about the evading of the officer. But he didn't. Instead he simply fined me $75 for the ticket and then $55 for some bogus court fees. And as long as I don't get another speeding ticket in the next six months, it won't go on my record. The end.

I felt pretty good as I went out to pay the clerk. It took me a minute to register that my cop must've sent a note to the judge to drop the evading police ticket. I was feeling special about only paying $130 in total until I overheard a lot of folks paying $130. And there you go.

So I got my driver's license back just in time to get a rental for my weekend speed trip to Detroit. I went to the store earlier this evening to buy my folks some fruits and vegetables. I also bought some fava beans as I've read studies that fava beans may help patients with Parkinson's due to its levodopa contents. Anything that might help my Mom should be tried.

I'll need to be extra mindful not to get another speeding ticket this weekend. Wish me luck.

All That's Needed

All I Need Is A Miracle - Mike & The Mechanics

I said go if you wanna go,
Stay if you wanna stay
I didnt care if you hung around me
I didnt care if you went away
And I know you were never right
Ill admit I was never wrong
I could never make up my mind
I made it up as I went along

And though I treated you like a child
Im gonna miss you for the rest of my life

All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you

I never had any time
And I never had any call
But I went out of my way just to hurt you,
The one I shouldnt hurt at all
I thought I was being cool
Yeah, I thought I was being strong
But its always the same old story
You never know what youve got til its gone

If I ever catch up with you
Im gonna love you for the rest of your life

All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you (all I need is a miracle)
All I need is a miracle, all I need is you

And if I ever catch up with you
Im gonna love you for the rest of your life

That's used to be my song. I actually was elated with the outcome of a recent transgression in my life and that made me think of this song. But I'll get to that later.

In other news, I got a phone call early Sunday morning from my Mom. Like 6:30 AM early, which is actually 7:30 AM Detroit time, so it wasn't that early. But early enough for me since I was still knocked out to the world. I quickly woke up when she mentioned that my Dad was feeling under the weather. He suffered from a serious head cold, a slight fever, a scratchy throat, and had a recurrence of the itching fit that he had last October. When the itching happened, my Dad was taken to emergency and was given medication to stop the itching that he needed to take for the next thirty days. The medication pretty much did its job.

We spoke for about two minutes before she transferred me to my Dad. He sounded a bit weak but otherwise was doing better than before. He mentioned that he was in the process of getting ready to get his Sunday paper. It's a Sunday tradition in the family to get the Detroit Free Press. So I let him go and promised to check in later.

So I called this morning and my Mom mentioned that now she has the same symptoms as my Dad, minus the itching. She sounded so miserable too. I suggested lots of grapefruit (except to not take it with medication) and orange juice. Actually they have these new brand of smoothie juices called Naked that I just love. They're supposed to be packed with plenty of Vitamin C and other nutrients. They taste so good but they're so pricey. Jewel Osco sells them for like $3.99 a bottle.

I actually was contemplating visiting this weekend and maybe bringing some of the juices for them. The one caveat, I always get a cold everytime I stay there for a few days. I don't know what it is. My immune system must be pretty weak or something. So I would have to pack extra for myself.

I also have to pysche myself up for the 5 hour drive again. I so hate commuting.

My Mom once again was complaining about Tasha and how she always seems to have an attitude everytime she asks Tasha to do something for her. Whether it's taking out the trash or picking up a perscription, it's always seems to be treated like a burden.

I was a bit dismayed after I hung up. I was talking to Rock about the situation and one thing he pointed out was that maybe Tasha's feeling overburdened with the responsibility of taking care of Mom and Dad. I mean it's not like my parents are invalids or anything but obviously with age both have slowed down. Trina and I pretty much only come by on occasion to visit whereas Tasha's there everyday. In some ways, Tasha may feel resentment against Trina and I because of that. So his point was that perhaps I may have to visit a bit more often than the holidays to alleviate some of the stress from Tasha.

I admit that I do worry about my parents and wish I could do more for them. So if I can come by and help a little more often, that would be good. I know I get exhausted myself with the requests from my parents but I do my best to do them since I'm not always around.

Also I need to be better about keeping in touch with my family in general. Since I'm a bit of a ways from them and don't see them on a daily basis, the tendency for me is to be out of sight, out of mind. I will admit that I'm not as close to my family as I would like to be. It's just something that I have to continue working towards.

So moving on....what has got me so elated today? Remember back in November when I got that speeding ticket from officer cutie? Well today was the day I needed to drive to Portage, Indiana to plead my case. Apparently though I was under the wrong impression that I would plead my case today. The prosecutor instead announced that we would be speaking to a prosecutor and if we couldn't come to a resolution, that a new trial date would be set.

I was a bit livid thinking I would have to waste another day driving down to Indiana. But lady luck was on my side. Apparently they misplaced my ticket and I wound up being called last. The prosector mentioned there was an error in where my ticket was placed and the charges were dismissed.

Woo hoo! The only thing that would've topped it was if I got to see officer cutie again. Sigh. But hey I'll take dropped charges any day.

Besides I have another court date this Friday for another speeding ticket I incurred. This time it was in Illinois near my job so I don't have as much of a commute. It happened on January 11th as I was making my way to a meeting. I got caught in a speedtrap going 52 in a 35. Unfortunately for me I made matters worse when I attempted to evade the cop. It started out as me turning into the Dunkin Donuts parking lot to see whether he was really after me. But I kept going towards the other exit and before I could drive off, he violently blazed through and stopped me.

It was horrific and embarassing. To make matters worse, there was another cop car in the Dunkin Donuts that was backing up as I drove in. You know, cops love their donuts.

So not only did he write up a speeding ticket but he also wrote one up for my attempted evasion. To make matters worse I didn't have my current insurance information on me. So he wrote me another ticket for that. That made three separate tickets he wrote me. Plus with the way I was shaking, he asked me if I was hiding anything in the car. I guess he was looking to throw even more tickets at me. Luckily he took my no for an answer. Not that I had anything to hide. *LOL*.

My initial court date was February 16th. I procrastinated as usual in getting my insurance card so I only had a print out from State Farm's website with my insurance info. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to prove I had insurance so they rescheduled the court date for this Friday. Of course the officer was there. Actually he's kind of handsome too.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get another miracle.

Another miracle....this marks my 250th post!!!!!! Woo hoo!

Cruising Through Life

I still can't believe I was being cruised last week. Okay....I guess I was since everyone here unanimously thought that was the case. I guess I was looking kinda fly that night. Plus I may have given the white mall security guy a lil side eye with a hint of smirk when I first passed him. Maybe that's the universal signal meaning 'follow me everywhere I go'. *LOL*

Hemingway besides that, it's been an interesting month so far. My garage decided to breakdown on me late last week. I was all set to go to work Monday morning when the mechanism that connects the door to the bar & chain decides to break. So I can only manually open the door. That would be fine but when I manually open it, the door doesn't seem to catch. As a result, the door wants to shut back when I'm not holding it. I wound up having to put a step ladder to hold it open so I could get my car out. I've found a couple of potential garage places but I haven't called them yet. So my car's been outside for almost two weeks.

Of course these last two weeks we've had quite the sub-zero temperatures in Chicago. It forces me to question once again why I'm still here. My locks on the car have been acting up for the last several days as well. It's so irritating.

Tuesday morning we had a bit of a snowstorm in the area. Making my way to work that day was wild. I even found myself spinning out on the freeway when I was forced to break suddenly. The car ended up facing the wrong side of the expressway. Luckily there wasn't much traffic behind me and I was able to manuever my way to the median. I was horrified, though, fearing I would be the cause of a 40 car pile up. I was really shook up for the rest of the day and didn't go out for lunch that day. The situation's made me thankful for being alive. God was really watching out for me that morning.

And get this. I was hit on again in the most unlikely of places (for me). I went to Bally's Thursday evening for a workout session. An older mid-40ish in shape white guy came up to me and started conversing with me. I admit I saw a profile of his back while he was working out on one of the back machines. It was nice but his face didn't do anything for me and I'm a face man. I had my music on minding my own beeswax when he started this trite conversation about the weather. I took off one ear piece to engage in conversation. He then did the whole you only work out here, how often do you work out, does your wife cook dinner for you jazz. Yeah he was fishing for info. I answered his requests with the most basic of answers. Then after some chatting about some friend getting early retirement from Motorola, he gave me a pound and went about his business.

First mall security dude and now this. It must be something in the air. I told Rock about the incident and aside from joking about needing to kill him told me that it's Murphy's Law. Basically since Rock and I are seeing each other, it's during those times that other guys seem to come out of the woodwork. I swear that shit like this never happens to me when I'm single. Then again one could argue that I may be more observant of such things now that I am in a relationship.

Hemingway speaking of Rock, he and I are supposed to be heading to the Auto Show tomorrow morning with a couple of his friends. I've never met these friends before but I've spoken briefly to both over the phone in the past and they're dying to meet me. The plan is to hit the Auto Show early enough before the big crowds and then once we look at particular models, head out to lunch.

I was a bit bummed that Rock wasn't able to meet No_The_Game and Sally (who themselves met each other for the first time) last weekend when we went to House of Noodles and Sushi. It was really cold that day and he had made prior plans. But that's neither here or now I guess. There will be other times no doubt. As for my outing, other than the sucky wait time and the sub-zero weather (tip...definitely plan on getting there before 5:15PM), we had an excellent time.

At least now the weather's better. We're finally in the low 20s. Woo hoo!

Cruised or Profiled?

Check this out.

Last night I went to AMC located inside a local surburban mall to meet Sally to catch Stomp The Yard. The movie personally wouldn't be my first choice. But Sally wanted to see it for the eye candy factor. So that's what we agreed to see. The movie was cute and I admit I was pleasantly surprised seeing the lovely Valarie Pettiford in a decent role. It was cool seeing her get work since she's underutilized by Hollywood. I also saw this hottie Laz Alonzo playing a frat guy. Even the thuggish main character who I'm normally not attracted to won me over when he went shirtless. It was cute. Contrived but cute.

But what happened before the movie is the reason for this entry.

Sally and I planned to meet there at 6:30 PM after work. She was running late because she went to work out and wouldn't get there until 7:15. So that gave me a full 45 minutes to kill. After purchasing my movie ticket, I went to Macy's to do some window shopping. I didn't see anything interesting except for some socks. I went to pay for them and was served by this jolly gay white man who was fakingly grinning. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't that pressed for a smile so don't waste his energy. But I didn't.

So I left Macy's and was walking around the mall. I needed to find a restroom and didn't want to go inside the theatre until Sally got there. I walked around looking for a restroom and as I'm walking, I see a white guy dressed like mall security walking down some nearby stairs. I walked past the stairs as he was making his way down, continuing my journey to the restroom. I go inside the restroom and during mid-piss (sorry...*LOL*), I noticed that he's walking in the restroom as well.

I didn't think much of him until I started washing my hands. He went over to a sink further away from me and divided by a wall. I purposely slowed down a bit when drying my hands to see if he would eventually walk away. He didn't. I sort of shook my head in disgust and walked out of the bathroom. I purposely stood in front of a mall directory display for five minutes waiting to see if he'd walk by. He didn't. I briefly turned around and saw him standing a yard or so away from me pretending to be looking elsewhere.

I started walking and saw from the back of my eye that he started walking too. I immediately dug for my cell phone and dialed Sally. I parked my ass on a plush chair between a couple of stores and bitched about my situation. I immediately was under the assumption that mall security was targeting me because I was shopping while black.

While chatting with Sally, I turned my head and as if to confirm my suspicions, I saw him walking not far from me. He then crossed over and strategically stood several feet in front of me, again pretending to look everywhere else but at me. I was livid but at the same time nonconfrontational. I sat there for another ten minutes before he eventually walked away.

What was that all about? Was I being followed because I was black? There weren't any other black folks within my vicinity so it made me wonder. Plus I've had past experiences where it was made obvious that I was being watched.

I went to the mall's website last night after getting back from my movie and was all set to email a complaint to the main site. Unfortunately the stupid site had a form set up so they didn't show their actual email address. I spoke to Rock about it and he thought I should wait until morning to send it in case I thought of anything else.

I spoke to Eugene this morning and based on the information I gave him, he concluded that I was being cruised by the guy. He said that since I first saw the guy half way across the mall coming the opposite direction of Macy's that it wasn't Macy's related. I didn't think it was either. At least I didn't notice anyone following me outside of Macy's. Eugene then said that the reason he followed me into the bathroom was to see if I would initiate conversation with him. The guy he said wouldn't risk his job going after me without any proof of wrongdoing. He then said that I was sending the guy mixed signals. When I gave him a semi-dirty look, he thought I wasn't interested. But then when I stopped by the directory sign and didn't move for five minutes, he wondered if I was interested. But he would have more to lose by risking it so he just followed hoping I would make a move towards him. Then when I sat down he thought I might be interested again until I talked on the cell phone. Then he just gave up.

So what do you guys think? Was I being cruised or profiled?