Sodium and Pit Stains
This month I’ve been on four airplanes, grimacing and letting bile flood my mouth during four landings. I’ve spent time in New York City and Washington DC, bonding with friends, developing professionally, and eating too much sodium.

This month I’ve spent far too much time in the office, earning money. And today, like a dumb ass, I spent some of that money on clothes. Eventhough I tell myself that it is normal, once one has a job that pays a reasonable amount, to purchase outfits that actually fit, are comfortable, and in line with ones profession, it is still a difficult thing for me to put down the money for them. I feel much more beautiful when partaking in my usual activity of squirreling away money in the savings account. But then again, I am pretty excited to trash some of those rotting, pit-stained dress shirts I’ve been wearing with embarrassment for some time now. That’s right, I said it: PIT STAINS. After spending the last two summers in a sweltering, un-air-conditioned apartment, it is no wonder that I needed new spring/summer clothes for work: my old ones were pretty rank looking.

This month I have not spent enough time in the grocery store. The basement communal laundry room is a distant memory. My jogging time is down to a scant average of three days a week. And I have some foggy notion that prior to this month, I once kept a blog…do any of you, my lovely and patient readers remember anything of the sort?
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What has been occupying you as of late?

Gay comic-guide editor or Editor of gay comic guide?

Here is a puzzle for those grammar skeptics out there that just might convince you that grammar and sentence structure does indeed have a profound effect on the meaning of a sentence.

Question: What is the difference between a “Gay comic-guide editor” and an “Editor of a gay comic guide?”

Answer: the first editor is gay and the second editor is my husband.

This week, Shaun had an article about him in an arts and culture magazine called Time Out Chicago. The article praised Shaun’s recent editorial project, the 2006 edition of Prism Comics: Your GLTB Guide to Comics. For those of you who might not know what GLTB is, it is an acronym for “Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual.” The Prism Guide is an annual publication dedicated to celebrating and discussing GLTB presence in the medium of comic books and graphic novels.

When Shaun was hired for the job, he was thrilled at the opportunity to lend his appetite for civil rights, his killer editorial skills, and his adoration of comics to a project with such a socially conscious pulse. My partner’s dedication to this project and to gay rights made me proud enough, never mind the fact that the guide turned out to be completely amazing. The press has caught wind of the project and there seems to be a general consensus of “YAY!” from the critics.

Despite all the good press, Shaun is both mildly mortified and hugely humored because as unassuming and—lets face it—cerebral as he is, my husband fails to recognize when interviewers are trying to figure out if he is queer himself. When journalists ask Shaun questions like, “Would a superhero make a good boyfriend?” Shaun thinks not to answer, “I’m not a fag!” Instead he considers the question and constructs a thoughtful, funny statement like, “…they might be off in space half the time. And they get killed every so often—but you know they’ll always be back.” Since my partner doesn’t guard his nuts like a homophobe when asked a question like that, is it any wonder that he receives headlines like, “Gay Comic-Guide Editor” instead of “Editor of Gay Comic Guide?” I think not.

Shaun is used to a life that could have been scripted by Woody Allen; like Woody’s characters, Shaun always has the best intentions but through hilariously unfair misunderstandings and clumsy mishaps, he often achieves quirky, offbeat results. It’s a part of his charm. Especially since he takes it all in stride and keeps on pushing forward with a smile no matter what.

Here is the article for your reading enjoyment. Click on it to make it big enough to read–it should pop up in a new window for you.

In other news, my apologies for being such a slacker-blogger. Work and life have been moving at the speed of light lately. The biggest news is that Shaun and I are taking a weekend trip to NYC soon for Shaun to take a step further into his dream career in the comic world and for me to meet up with the long-time friend who was my “masculine of honor” (as opposed to maid of honor—he is a guy) in our wedding.

The weekend after we get back, I am off to D.C. to train for a job I secured for a few weekends this summer. The job this summer will be for the company I’ve taught weekend writing workshops to underprivileged high school youth in the past for, only this summer, not only will I be teaching the workshops, but I will be training the other teachers, too. So I’m getting trained on how to train.

That’s another thing I’ve been hard at work about—soul searching. I miss tutoring. I need to be teaching. I write better when I teach. I feel better when I teach. My current museum job is all the “right” things and I am completely thankful for it, but my heart is not in it. I’m working on a transition. I’m keeping my eye on the prize and when enough dough is stashed away to go back to school, a certified English teacher I will become.

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What do you dream for yourself?
Have you ever been so misunderstood it was funny?

::Random Tangent::
Department of Homeland Security dude solicits sex from teens online.
Bush authorizes CIA leak.
Our government grosses me out. Seriously. Where are the days of good old consensual blowjobs in the White House? Now the place is crudded up with disgusting, pedophile cyber-perverts trying to lay prepubescent kids and whispering traitors. I can’t even express how nauseated I am. Politics aside: these people are seriously criminal and f-ed up.