Road Trip!

I leave this morning for a road trip to Iowa to check on my father. Except in the winter, I always enjoy the drive with the beautiful scenery. My route cuts through the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia and Tennessee, and the rolling hills and prairie of Missouri and Iowa. It's such a change from Atlanta scenery. Plus, I get to listen to music or practice a foreign language during the drive.

My dad lives in a small town of about 5000 people. It's a whole different world. People seem to have more time there, and you can't go anywhere without bumping into a friend or acquaintance. Even people who don't know you are friendly. Except for the winter weather, it's a great place. I didn't see it that way growing up there; isn't it strange how time changes your perspective?

Autumn in Georgia

With its rolling hills dotted with trees, Georgia is stunning in the autumn. The golds, reds, and greens are fun to see, like being inside a landscape painted by Monet.

Georgia is the first state where I've lived that I've enjoyed autumn. Florida had so few hardwood trees that it was not nearly as pretty, while autumn in Iowa only served to announce the upcoming winter, which was always long, cold, windy, and icy.

The Front Yard Garden

For the last several years, the rainfall in the Atlanta area has been undependable. My better half planted this drought resistant flower (the globe amaranth, also known as gomphrena) which has been flourishing. Here's a different view of the front yard flowers:


The bumblebees and butterflies enjoy the gomphrenas, and it's fun to stand outside and watch them.

Just in Time for Halloween!

Our spiders are doing their part to celebrate Halloween. Every autumn, spiders start weaving webs along the exterior walls of the homes in our Atlanta neighborhood. The one in the picture is just outside the back door, one of their favorite places. The webs appear suddenly, and never just one, usually at least three, four, or five appear simultaneously. Many a time, I've been surprised taking trash out the back door. My usual method of shutting the door, pivoting, and moving toward the trashcan almost always ensures that my face encounters any new web. LOL. This is the one proven method to wake me up without coffee!

By the way, one of my MySpace friends found a website where you can find your Halloween name. Click Here For Your Halloween Name. Mine is "Cobb Webbed Crotch," which makes me cringe because the name makes that area sound so unused. LOL.

The Underwear Issue

The models are the reason I enjoy the issue of Genre magazine devoted to men's underwear. Unless you're gay, you probably don't know the many different brands and styles of men's underwear that exist. The brand in the picture above is 2xist, a favorite among gay men. Indeed, Exodus ministry (the group that claims to change people's orientation from gay to straight) considers 2xist underwear too gay (whatever that is) and bans the brand from being worn by its victims attempting the orientation change.

Genre does contain articles and this issue has one looking back at the underwear revolution caused by Calvin Klein. Prior to Calvin Klein, underwear was not considered sexy, but a commodity. Thank you Calvin Klein!

BTW, Genre also has an annual issue on beachwear that is also eye pleasing. :-)

Internet Fakes

One of the problems created by the internet is the use of fake identities so that people can misrepresent themselves. I'm mystified by misrepresentations. Are they so dissatisfied with their life that they must lie about it? I'd like to be younger, but calling myself 25 won't make me twenty-five.

I also believe that truth always prevails, although there are times when it can be slow to do so. What are the people who misrepresent themselves going to do when the truth emerges?

There was an interesting story early this year about a man who invented a fake identity and fell in love over the internet with a woman who invented a fake identity. The man murdered a rival who was competing for the fake internet woman. (You can't make up stories like this!) In this case, the truth ruined several lives.

One of my MySpace friends sent a bulletin last week about an impostor. The impostor had posted about a dozen photos that belonged to my MySpace friend. What kind of fantasy do you have when you do that?

(Disclosure: Since I was an identity theft victim, I never provide internet sites with my real birth date. I choose a random date, and I do usually key in one that knocks off several years. But its not done with the intent of deceiving; it's done to avoid a hacker stealing that information and impersonating me.)

Sexual Identity

I used to think that people were either gay or straight, and that bisexuals were people who weren't ready to admit that they were gay. I now think that sexual orientation is more like a scale, with some people on the extreme ends of gay or straight, and others falling in the middle, truly bisexual.
My new view is the result of some conversations with one of my better half's friends, a psychologist, who mentioned the many patients she treated because they felt an sexual attraction that differed from their usual orientation. She concluded that everyone was bisexual, although to different degrees.

With so much societal pressure to be heterosexual, people like me who identify as gay are pretty much only attracted to the same sex; however, I suspect many straights are actually bisexual. Perhaps as being gay becomes increasingly accepted, more people will identify themselves as bisexual. I'm sure that this will complicate marriages and relationships (not that they need any more complexity!).

My Visit to the Gym

Monday is one of the days I visit the gym to perform my penance for the calories that I so enjoy. In walking from my car to the entrance, I found that I was walking behind another guy.

Being gay, I love the sight of a sexy guy just as a straight man loves the sight of a sexy lady. Because I'm in love, I don't do anything but look, but looking is fun.

Well, the guy in front of me was a sexy, twenty-something boy with muscular, hairy legs, which started to turn me on. (Of course, being in Atlanta with my better half in Philadelphia has something to do with my libido too). I don't usually begin my gym visits that way.

Entering the gym, I handed the employee (a girl that I usually chat with) my ID and asked her how her week-end was. "Great!" she exclaimed, telling me how she went to Miami and had a fun time at the beach. "See?" she said, leaning toward me and opening her shirt collar. The sunburn was apparent, and I told her "You must have had a wonderful time!"

As I walked to the locker room to stow my gym bag, a cute, Asian, twenty-something gay looks at my legs, then looks into my eyes, smiles, and nods. Can everybody tell I'm horny?

Rotating through all the exercise (torture?) machines that I use, I came to the shoulder press. Nobody was there but they left their drink. I read the label incredulously. Somebody had branded the sports drink "Muscle Milk." LOL.