The 80s

/ Paul / Leave a comment

This afternoon I had an e-mail conversation with David. I had mentioned a name to him and it reminded him of a movie from the '80s. The funny part is that I thought of the same movie. And I remembered the exact line from the movie. The movie was Pretty In Pink. The movie and the music brings back lots of memories from the '80s.

David and I were talking this past weekend about me being a child of the '80s. I was telling him that most of my growing up years were in the '80s. From 1980 to 1989 I was 16 to 26. I think I experienced the most during that decade. In the early '80s I got my drivers license, had my first boyfriend, had my first sexual experience, had my heart broken for the first time, graduated from high school, went to college, and smoked pot for the first time. In the mid '80's I graduated from college, had my first long term relationship, moved out of my parent's house, came out to my family, and started my career. At the end of the '80s I ended my first long term relationship, moved back to my parent's house, became politically aware, and realized how little teachers get paid. Even though it was an awful decade politically with Reagan and Bushie 1 in office, there were a lot of things that changed my life in the '80s.

When I watch We Are The '80s on VH1 Classic, so many memories flood my mind. I loved the music of the '80s. Almost every song I hear while watching that show remind me of some event I experienced in the '80s. Simple Minds, ABC, The Human League, The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Police, The Go-Gos, and New Order are just a few of the bands that I've heard recently on VH1 Classic. Anyone who grew up or came of age in the '80s can relate to these bands and the music they created. The memories that are attached to these songs are what I'll remember for a long time.

The series of John Hughes movies that were released in the '80s also bring back memories. They remind me of who it was I saw the movie with or the dreams I had at the time the movie came out. Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire….aw, the memories. I love those movies. I have several of them on DVD. Plus, I was in love with many of the male characters in those movies. I remember being completely in love with Andrew McCarthy when I saw him in Class, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty In Pink, and believe it or not, Mannequin. I know, I know that movie sucked but I was so in love with Andrew McCarthy. Where is he now? Times change but the memories remain the same.

I love the '80s. I'd love to relive some of the experiences I had then. I'm sure I'd do things differently but I just remember having a great time then. It was my youth and my openness to experience new things. I wasn't a grown up and I didn't have to worry about things as much then. Does the future contain memories I have yet to experience? I'm sure it does. There are many things I have yet to experience.

New G5 iMac

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Today Apple introduced the new G5 iMac. It is simply beautiful. I love the design. My current iMac is exactly 2 years old so of course it is time to get a new one. Perfect timing. Today at 3:50 PM Eastern Time, I ordered this spectacular piece of art. I went with the top of the line 20inch model. I decided to get 1 gig of ram, a 250 gig hard drive, airport extreme, bluetooth, and a wireless keyboard and mouse. The web site says I should get it in 3 to 4 weeks. I can’t wait! It was very expensive but Apple computers always are and are always worth it. I have always loved Apple and their products. I have never had a problem with Apples that I did not cause myself. I will be loyal to them for as long as they continue to produce such outstanding products.

Back To Work

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Up at the crack of dawn. This was the first official day back for teachers. We had a very inspirational 3 hour presentation that was about 2 1/2 hours too long. I could see on all the faces of my fellow teachers that they would have preferred to be in their classrooms doing the millions of things they needed to do. I had already been back to school last week so I had a jump on things. I didn't feel to stressed. And some parts of the presentation were pretty good. I did get to meet many of the new teachers. Man, they are so young and naive. I hope I wasn't that arrogant when I was new.

I'm so glad tomorrow is pay day. I am so broke. I didn't go out to lunch with my colleagues today because I just didn't have any cash. Luckily, I gorged myself on the breakfast items at the presentation so I wasn't hungry anyway. I went to my classroom and go to work. It's not like I don't have any money. I have plenty in my accounts. I just don't like to dip into savings for stupid things like cash for lunch. I have direct deposit, so the money will be in my account at midnight tonight. On my way to work tomorrow I'll hit the cash machine so I can go out to lunch like regular people. Some people think teachers get paid enough because we only work 10 months of the year, but remember, we only get paid for 10 months of work. I have mine spread out over 12 months so I can afford to live in the summer. However, we do NOT get paid like we should get paid, no matter what people think.

Even though I was able to get work done at school today, I actually brought home many things I can do while watching TV tonight. Once the school year gets going and I get into a routine, I won't bring home very much work. I usually organize my time very well during the school day so that I won't have to bring work home. I know so many teachers who take things home everyday. I just need my evenings to rest and relax. I won't be relaxing too much tonight. I need to get a few things done. I will, however, be in bed by 9:30. I've got to get back into that routine. I will.

Just Thinking

/ Paul / Leave a comment

Today is Brad's 40th birthday if I remember correctly. I wonder how he's doing. I hope he is enjoying his day. I thought about calling him but I'm not sure I should. He might have a new boyfriend and I wouldn't want to mess that up. I know his friends read this so maybe they'll wish him a happy birthday from me. John McCain's birthday is today too. Big deal.

The Olympics end today. I have not watched one minute of the coverage. I just don't care anymore. There was a time when I was younger when I would have watched hours and hours of the coverage but these days I just don't care about it.

I missed Big Brother last night. I didn't do anything last night. I chatted online. I watched TV. I was in bed by midnight. It's back to work tomorrow. Ugh. I love my job but I hate getting up so early and going to bed so early. I'll get back into the routine and it won't bother me a bit in a few weeks.

DCGB: D.C. Gay Bloggers Brunch

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This morning was the D.C. Gay Bloggers Brunch. While driving east on 66 into the city I almost had a panic attack. In my rear view mirror I saw a bright red civic with an OU license plate on the front. My heart began to race. As it passed me, I couldn’t see inside the blacked out windows (just like his). There’s no way it could have been him. But then when I saw the rear plate I almost drove off the road. It was an Oklahoma license plate. Everything from the last few weeks rushed back into my head and I almost couldn’t breath. Within a minute the car was gone and I was regaining my ability to breath. I certainly didn’t need that crap messing up my mind this morning. I did my best to put it out of my head.

I arrived in D.C. about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet. I drove around for just a few minutes looking for parking. I found a decent spot near the intersection of 17th and P. I had time to kill so I walked around Dupont Circle and took some pictures of the architecture and the famous fountain. The sun was baring down on me. It was hot, and humid. I’ve always been one to sweat easily in the heat. The sweat was quickly forming in the usual places. I thought I’d look like crap when I get to this brunch.

I walked back to Trio’s where the brunch was to be held and saw Chrisafer (thanks again for coordinating this). He was the only one I recognized. I introduced myself to everyone and sat down. The instant they introduced themselves, their names left my mind. I’m never good at remembering names right off the bat. I need to associate something to their name. I kept thinking about their blogs, many of which I don’t read, and never heard of. There were about 6 guys there at that time. We chatted briefly and waited for others to show up while we ordered drinks. Over the next 15 to 20 minutes another 11 guys showed up and the table grew longer and longer. It stretched from one end of Trio’s patio to the other. We had taken up one entire end of the patio. This set up did not make it easy to talk to everyone. Boi from Troy sat across from me, Chrisafer to my left, and Articulatory Loop to my right. At the end of my section of the table were DCJoe, Cuteyoboy, and Devil’s Advocacy. I only remember DCJoe’s name because he was very good looking and his name is in his blog name. We all proceeded to order, talk, and eat. All of these guys seemed really nice. I didn’t really get to talk to too many of them so I can’t really say much about them. I’m hoping someone will list all those who attended as well as their blog addresses so I can check them out. I should have taken some paper and pen with me so I could have recorded their addresses. I’d like to check out their blogs but I don’t know all of them. After a few hours of talking, eating, and being quiet, guys started to leave. After a few left, I decided I should go too. I said my goodbyes and said it was nice meeting everyone. I walked back to my car and came home.

One thing I know for sure. I’m old. I was easily the oldest member of that group. Besides two guys at the other end of the table who were in their early to mid 30’s, everyone else was in their 20’s. They talked about collage, bars and clubs, other blogs I don’t read, basically younger things. I just listened in mostly. I realize that I really only have two things in common with these guys. 1) We’re gay, and 2) we write our own blogs. Don’t read anything into that. They were all very nice and very welcoming. It’s just that most 40 year olds don’t have much in common with 20somethings. And on top of this I was sweating like a pig the entire time. I’m sure some of them were wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I can’t help it. We were sitting on the patio. It was hot and humid. I sweat in conditions like this. If we were in a bar, with air conditioning, with drinks, with areas to move around and meet other people, I would have done much better. I would have talked more, met more guys, and been a better member of the group. And I was very quiet. If I had been standing next to a wall, I would have been the wall paper. Anyway, I did enjoy meeting these guys. As I said, they were all very nice and very welcoming. And I plan on reading some of their blogs regularly.