Asshole behavior, part 2

A couple years ago I shared the discovery of 5 open jars of peanut butter in our kitchen, which lead to a laughter-inducing conversation about "asshole behavior".  

You know, people who use the last of the toilet paper or paper towels but don't replace the role?  Yeah, that's asshole behavior.  Well I think its time to add some additional examples:

• not pushing your chair or stool in when you get up from the table or breakfast bar
• tossing trash in the direction of the trash can but not picking it up when you miss
• never, EVER opening mail addressed to you, but then getting upset when you miss a deadline
• opening a new deodorant/tube of toothpaste/bottle of shampoo when there is still some in the existing container
• leaving the car's gas gauge on empty when you know someone else will drive it the next day
• not using air freshener after you've used the bathroom
• trying on an item of clothing, deciding it doesn't fit right, and then tossing it into the dirty clothes hamper rather than hanging it up (which is why I only wash my own clothes now)
• waiting until company has arrived and is ready to go to bed to ask "Are there clean sheets on the guest room beds?"

When Spouse exhibits asshole behavior from time to time I will call him on it.  He looks as me with a quizzical face as if he doesn't understand, so I explain to him what he's done.  In detail.

Beardy boy

Public service

Just because

Better with a beard

I remember when I heard about PA House of Representatives Brian Sims, the first openly gay elected state legislator in PA history.  In addition to admiring his hard work and courage, I remember thinking that he was really attractive.

Then I saw that he'd grown a beard and I thought 'wow, he's hot!'

Hellllllo???

Not every man looks better with a beard.  Sometimes beards make men look old, and not in the hot way. But Brian Sims looks fantastic with a beard.

Another famous man whom I think is very handsome is actor Jesse Metcalfe. He was first known for his role on Desperate Housewives as clean-shaven John Rowland.

  
But then in tonight's season premier of Dallas we were treated to a sexier version of Christopher Ewing sporting a beard.

Grrrrrrrrr....

Any other public figures you thought were handsome that became even better looking with a beard?

Filing fun

Yesterday I spent almost the entire day getting documents together for our accountant so he can prepare our returns.

I will admit that despite my love of organization, I am not the most organized when it comes to paperwork.  I tend to toss papers on my desk that I know I will need later (for tax purposes or other purposes) and then when the stack begins to get unruly, I will throw them all into a big envelope.

Not exactly a scientific approach, I know.

"How hard can it be?" you may be asking.  Well, keep in mind we have documents and receipts for our primary home, 3 rental properties, and my real estate business, so there's a LOT of paperwork.

So after separating, organizing, and documenting all of the paperwork for the accountant, I decided to start 2014 off right.  I labeled an envelope for my business receipts, one for our home receipts, and another for the rental property receipts.  So going forward, rather than tossing papers into a heap on the desk, I will slip them into the appropriate envelope. Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of time needed next year to get our tax stuff ready for the accountant.

Just because

A shoulder to snooze on

The other morning I was having coffee and checking my email.  The house was quiet and Marvin was ready to cuddle up for a little nap.

Who knew my shoulder was so comfy??

Beardy boy

Today's Beardy Boy comes to you courtesy of Mac at Yummy of the Day.  Check out his blog for more yumminess like this.

Valentines Day flowers

Since my Spouse loves flowers and I love making my Spouse happy, I will occasionally send him cut flowers to his office.  (I send them to his office so his colleagues see that gay people send/receive flowers just like straight people do.)  He knows by now to expect them on his birthday, Valentines Day, and our anniversary.  Sometimes I'll send them on some other random day, just to catch him by surprise.  So since Fri was Valentines Day, this is what showed up at his office:

What??  No red roses on Valentines Day?? you may be asking?  That's correct.  Red roses tend to be very pricey on Valentines Day, and cost aside, Spouse feels that red roses on Valentines Day is too typical and expected.  Which is fine by me because he brings the flowers home for us both to enjoy and I prefer a mixed bouquet over a dozen of the same thing.

And for the record, this bouquet contains pale pink and mauve miniature roses so technically he did get roses on Valentines Day.

That night we had a lovely dinner at JD's Cafe.  I had lobster and shrimp Thai curry and Spouse had fried scallops.  Our friend Donald is the maitre' d and had a complimentary dessert sent to our table, which was very nice of him.  After more than 17 years together we no longer give each other Valentines Day gifts.  Enjoying dessert and decaf coffee together on Valentines day was gift enough.

Valentines Day

To all of you who are married, in a civil union, in a relationship, or are dating someone, I wish you a very happy Valentines Day, full of love, romance, and sweetness.

To those who are single and must 'suffer' through this one day of the year dedicated to lovers, I hope you'll stay optimistic and open to love.

And to those who bitterly complain about how Valentines Day is just a commercial holiday to benefit greeting card sellers, chocolate sellers, and florists, and makes single people feel badly about themselves, I urge you to get a life!  Or at the very least, a new attitude. 

Just because

Size matters

Its that time of the year again: time for Girl Scout cookies!  Although I like them all, my favorite 2 are 

Do-Si-Dos (peanut butter sandwich cookies)

and... 

Tagalongs (chocolate covered peanut butter cookies).

I've been ordering and enjoying them every year for as long as I can remember.  Girl Scout cookie time should be a holiday in my opinion.  Click this link to see all the Girl Scout cookie varieties.

But this year my joy was tempered a bit when I noticed that the cookies appear to be shrinking in both size and quantity.  Is it just me??  

The Do-Si-Dos come stacked in 2 cellophane sleeves in the box, and the box seems smaller this year, no doubt due to the smaller size of the cookies.

The Tangalongs come in a plastic tray with separators between the cookies, and the separators now take up as much space as the cookies.

I remember paying $2.75 per box years ago, and I know that nothing stays the same price forever, but the cookies are now $4.00 per box.  I guess I'm feeling like the flavor pay-off is getting harder to justify with the smaller cookie size and the increasing price.

But the truth is that I will always order a box of Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs every year because its my thing.  I do it every year, and I really do enjoy the cookies.  But that doesn't mean I won't complain a little.

Beardy boy

Date night

Sat night Spouse & I did something we haven't done in years.  We went to the movies together.

I think the last time we went to the movies together was in 2010 when we saw Sex and the City 2 (the Abu Dhabi one).  Without making a concious decision to stop going to the movies, we began waiting a week or 2 until films of interest came out on Netflix DVD and watching it at our convenience in the comfort of our home.

Movies have gotten ridiculously expensive, which is another reason we likely won't be going again very soon.  It cost us $11 per person to see a regular 2D film.  (I overheard the cost of a 3D film is $14.) When I go to this very same cinema for the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival the movies cost $9 so that probably contributed to my surprise at the $11 cost on Sat night.  We used a gift card so it wasn't as painful to lay down $22 to see August: Osage County.  

We both liked the film but found a few flaws at the same time.  We both thought Meryl Streep's performance was a tad "big".  Although they remark throughout the movie how utterly hot it is, no one in the entire film is ever shown sweating.  Every imaginable family dysfunction is present in this 1 family, which made it a little less believable.  But what a star-studded cast!

After the film we went to dinner at Dos Locos so it kind of felt like a date night, something we do a little more often than going to the movies.  As much as I enjoy going out with our friends, a date night with Spouse is always nice too.

As seen on facebook

One of my friends posted on facebook a link to a Tumbler photo site that is fun and sexy called New York Subway Guys.  

It is exactly what the title suggest: photos of hot/sexy/attractive guys seen on the NYC subway system. This makes total sense since NYC's subway system has a very ridership and NYC has a wide diversity of ethnicities in its ridership.

Check it out and I bet you'll bookmark it or become a follower.

Just because

Underwear

I am a 'briefs' kind of guy.

I grew up wearing Fruit of the Loom or Hanes white cotton briefs, and always found them to be comfortable.

In the mid-80s I experimented with bikini briefs because that's what was in style then.

But I felt a constant urge to pull them up all the time, and the ones I got were some kind of blend of manmade fibers so they weren't as comfortable as cotton.  So I went back to my traditional white cotton briefs.

Then in the mid-90s I experimented with boxers because that's what was in style then.

But that experiment was even shorter-lived.  The loose legs got bunched up under the legs of my jeans/pants, and I really didn't like the lack of support.  My loose junk jiggled around so much that I was constantly aware of it, and I do NOT need to be constantly thinking about my junk.  So I returned to the comfort and support of briefs.

The next underwear fad to come along was the boxer brief.  I didn't bother experimenting with boxer briefs because I assumed they would bunch up under my jeans/pants, and I would once again return to my old standby.  Besides, nobody sees my underwear but me and Spouse so why I should I try something new?  It would be different if I were single and wanted to 'impress' guys with my cute, in-style undies.

But recently I made a little shopping snafu at Marshalls.  While intending to by these comfortable, supportive, cotton briefs:

I accidentally purchased these cotton boxer briefs:

Since stores do not accept underwear returns, I decided to go ahead and give the boxer briefs a try.  I was pleasantly surprised to find they weren't half bad.  They gave me sufficient support and the light elastic in the legs prevented them from bunching up.  While I still prefer briefs, these boxer briefs are the next best thing.

So what about you?  Briefs?  Boxers?  Or boxer briefs? 

Beardy boy

This handsome and hairy Beardy Boy is courtesy of BosGuy, who has very good taste in tasty men.

Polar Bear Plunge recap

When I got home from work on Sat Kerry & Hugh, Kelly, Ana, Bob & Harriet had arrived.  We hung out for a while and talked, then went to dinner at JD's Cafe.  Everyone enjoyed their meals.  I had lobster and shrimp Thai curry - yum!  Afterward Alison, Gabe, and Antonio arrived.  Yep, we had 9 folks stay overnight with us for the Polar Bear Plunge.

Sun morning we had bagels, donuts, coffee and juice for breakfast, then headed to Rehoboth Beach for the Plunge.  Fortunately for everyone, we had a veritable heat wave and the temperature rose to 54 degrees.  There were over 3,200 registered Plungers who raised over $725,000 for the Special Olympics of DE.  So while the Plungers did their thing I filmed the event with Kerry's DVD camera and Spouse held Marvin.  I would share the video I took but I have not gotten a copy of it from Kerry yet.

My friends Carlos & Peter

When we returned to the house the Plungers took showers and packed up their stuff before the lot of us had a late lunch at Irish Eyes.  Then as quickly as they arrived, the group was headed back home to VA by 4pm.  It was a short but fun visit.

A little later that evening we went to Joe P's for a Super Bowl party.  None of us cared about the teams playing, and some of us didn't care about football in general, but we all went for the camaraderie and food.  Let's face it - it was an excuse to eat and drink booze on a school night.  We had a good time.