The blog of the thirty-something fag- June/July Edition 2009

Quotes of the Month:

"Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship." - Buddha

"I ordered coffee at a diner. The waiter said, "Regular?" I said, "I will be after I've had my coffee."" – Bernie Keating- What fresh Hell is this?: berniekeating.blogspot.com.


File this under "Grab the wheel, I'm gonna pee . . ."

Recently read on textsfromlastnight.com:

(316): I got so drunk I pissed the bed last night.
He still likes me. He's a keeper

(785): He is a keeper.
You on the other hand are not.

Why do I feel I know this guy/Am this guy?

Highlights from thingsmyboyfriendsays.com:

While watching America's Next Top Model.
"High drama at the whore factory!"

E imitates a hormonal, PMSing woman.
"HELP. ME. STAB. THE PUPPY."

On debt.
"About that money I owe you. Do you take sex?"

The nature of our relationship.
me: How did I end up with you?
e: You lost a bet.

When I first bought this domain name.
me: I just bought ThingsMyBoyfriendSays.com. Say something funny.
e: You can't. Rush. Genius.

The best things are said while lying in bed.
"Know what I love about you? No, love's the wrong word. Know what I HATE about you?"




July 2nd, 2009
Tommy Tweeting

Twitter is a bah blah site for people interested in the 21st century art of digital Haiku. You post a limited number of characters to a web site that certain people are linked to, and read when updated.

Think of it as a micro-blog, one sentence/thought/poem at a time.

Many find it fun, some interesting, others just don't get it. Regardless, once you're tweeting, you can't stop: It's addicting! Intereested? Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/trgforce


Chill-icon 2009
Camber saw my twitter icon and wanted one of his own.
I designed four good ones for him, which one do you think he'll pick?
Let me know: trgforce@mac.com



Want your own twitter icon?
Email me and I'll design four for you for $4- pay via PAYPAL
trgforce@mac.com


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Monday, June 29th, 2009
Back in the AIR

It's been so long since I have had the chance to enjoy the things that make my life good.

After making a few changes to my lifestyle this past week, including putting the kitchen remodel on hold for a month, I find I have the kind of time I was enjoying before the first of the year, when all things seemed to go belly up.

Wind-Willing, I'm taking Loredda(My big red 20 meter kite) out to the beach to catch some wind and maybe do a little kitesurfing today.

The Shore has been way too crowded on weekends this season, and even now with school sessions over, I have to be really careful to avoid the beachies.
Winds been good from 2 p.m. for the last few days, so I'm leaving here at 1:15~ getting some work done first though- I'm not a total slacker!

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June 28th, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEDRO

Pedro's birthday was the 25th, but because of his work schedule, today was the first day we had to celebrate. As a nod to his tireless work as my remodeling assistant, I gave him some power tools and a card.

He seemed to really be happy with the gift, especially since he told me months ago that a Ryobi drill set was exactly what he wanted for his birthday.

I was more than happy to oblige (with the accompanying drill bit set show here) seeing as it's the only way I get to work with my own tools when he's around.

Now I have to find him a nice ladder for Christmas and we'll be all set.

After brunch it was a short break, then to 55 degrees for wine tasting, then to a nice Silverlake italian cafe for clever conversation, good friends and good pasta.

Overall it was the best weekend I have had in quite a while- YAY FRIENDS!

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June 21th, 2009
About this VEGAN thing . .

A few ideas about going vegan that need to be busted.

1. It's hard to find yummy Vegan food.
Wrong- just concentrate on dairy free sauces and there's plenty out there to eat. Seems to me, a chef works harder at making vegan food taste good. I'm RARELY disapointed, and it's ben 5 weeks.

2. Vegans can only eat at special restaurants.
Wrong: virtually every restaurant has something on the menu for vegans, I haven't yet tried to dine at a steak house though . .

3. Restaurant servers are annoyed with Vegans
Contrarily- they are always more than helpful at finding dishes on the menu, that with some slight modification, are perfectly tastey veganized. They seem to WANT to help.

4. Vegan diets are more political than health-conscious.
I have no political motivation for going vegan, I encourage my friends to eat any animal of their choosing, it's just not good for me right now.

5. A vegan diet isn't healthy-
Tell that to my bathroom scale.
After losing 15 lbs I'm down 2 inches off my waist. Perhaps it's not healthy for my fat clothes, I'm packing them in bins and putting them in the garage. I feel great, have plenty of energy, and I'm almost constantly eating, which is one of my favorite things to do. When did getting down to your ideal weight by eating MORE be come unhealthy?

Speaking of healthy; I'm the healthier now more than I have ever been.

This is not an attempt to get anyone else to go vegan, but it seems a fact that my friends are more bothered by the diet change than I am. Maybe this will help.
Some things I dont eat anymore: butter, cream, pastries, cream soups, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, fish- and I dont re ally mis them. No cravings.
It's easier than most people would think.

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June 12th, 2009
Casa Del Mañana Sol, Home Remodel project 3.0

In February Pedro and I started demolishing the kitchen to make room for a new one. I had gotten a sizeable income tax refund, and I was looking forward to spending the loot on the house, to se if I can finally get the one snaggle-toothed room of this house up to par with the rest of the place.

it took us five weeks, and seven tons of rubble to get the space READY for a new kitchen, and Wally came out from Massachusettes to help with the infrastructure.

Now, as of June 10th, nothing but finish work to do, all appliances are in and functioning, and we even have a new laundry room.

To see pics of the demo- check out the Images on the my Flickr site!
Just click HERE!

The wall from the dining room gone. So dramatic!

Cabinets, and everything! It's already cooking here!

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June 7th, 2009
BEST RIDE EVER

I know I say that every year, but this year I mean it. Despite the sickening economy, we were right on scale with our fundraising this year, bringing in over 11 million dollars for AIDS awarenes and services. That's incredible as far as I'm concerned (Almost 5k of that came from me- go figure!). More of my dearest friends made it back for another ride, and I made several new ones as well (Pictured here with my new ride buddy, Chris Fava).
This years ride was so much fun, and so comfortable, Im ready to do it again next year, no questions asked, and I think I'll probably get a head start on the fundraising this time as well.

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June 1, 2009
RIDING, WELL again.

One year ago, during my 545 mile jaunt across California, I was plagued each day with lower back pain, muscle spasms, and general ol-guy discomfort. My tent mate wasn't much help, Curtis was suffering from a nasty cold, and each morning at sunrise I would open my eyes to see his face, staring down at me begging the question " So . . . What are we doing?" hoping against all hope that I would decide for both of us that we would take the day off. After last years disasterous poor-prepared ride I decided I was going to do something a little different before geting on the bike again.

This year, I want to make sure that I havn't riden my last ride comfotably, so i turned to my buddy and work out partner Alan, and asked him what new tack to take. He suggested working a rigourous leg routing into our weekly workout to strengthen the supportive secondary muscles for riding. (In a nutshell, We did the thighmaster on Wednesdays, and squats) We started in August, and with that routine, combined with 6 months of weekly spin classes and only-uphill training rides, got my butt back in shape for 545 miles of fun, speed and comfort this year.

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May 30th, 2009
Did I fail to mention . .

My Uncle Larry and Aunt Patty came to visit all the way from Iowa in May, and they brought a new diet with them.
They have been VEGAN for the last 18 months for various health issues, and suggested the concept to me as a way to deal with current JOINT issues.

(kudos for folks in their 60's ready to make sweeping diet changes for a better quality of life!)

 I thought it might be a bad idea to go Vegan just before my 545 mile bike ride, but it was worth a shot. So far, so good, and the side effects are. . . interesting. More on this idea later.

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My fav Vegan dish so far

Pictured: a vegan salad of Tofu sausage with onion over a bed of lettuce, tomatoe and avacado.