Archerr

I just read the comments about my last podcast and I see that I have an international audience. The farthest away right now is Germany. I love it! If you haven't listened to my last podcast, please do so and leave me a comment telling me where you are from.

I'm off to the boyfriend's house this weekend so there won't be an update until either late Sunday evening or Monday evening. It just depends on how the weekend goes.

Have a great weekend!

Here's podcast number 4. I talk about The Amazing Race, Microsoft, not having enough time to do everything, a blister on my toe, Spain's gay marriage law, how far away my listeners are, and self sex. Enjoy!

I stumbled across this blog called Postsecret. I found it on Towleroad. It's a very intersting site. People write secrets on postcards and send them to this guy. He posts them on his blog. If you go through them and read them you will find that some of them are scary and some will make you cry. I read through almost all of them and I wondered what made these people decide to tell their secrets. I know everyone has secrets but most people tell at least one person at some point in their lives. Does writing their secrets on post cards and having them posted on this blog make them feel better? Are they relieved in some way because they've told someone? Or does the whole process bring up feelings and memories that they would rather soon forget. I found it all intriguing. You might too.

Here is my third podcast. During this show I talk about Wanda Wisdom of Lucky Bitch Radio and how she mentioned my e-mail and show on her show today. I also mentioned how she inspired me to do my own show. Thank you, Wanda! I also talk a lot about podcasts and I get into detail about my photo shoot over the weekend with the hot naked men and what happens during the shoot. I know I made an annoying noise with my mouth when I talked. Sorry if that drives anyone nuts. I'll try to control it in future podcasts. Click on the podcast icon to download and listen to the show.

Links mentioned in the show:

Lucky Bitch Radio
Yeast Radio
Ongline

What a busy weekend! W. and I went to visit our artist friend, Bob. We had two photo shoots on Saturday. One with Skycoach by himself and then later I convinced W. to get naked and pose with Skycoach.



Saturday night we spent at The Inn at Montross. It was pretty decent. It obviously had a renovation in the early 80's because there signs of bad taste all around. We went to dinner at the Mt. Holly Steamboat Inn which is a B&B and a resturant. I had a great filet mignon and W. had crab cakes. Then on Sunday we went to the birthplace of George Washington. We wandered around the grounds, read the history, and saw lots of animals. It was very informative. Then we went to Ingleside Vineyards for wine tasting and a wonderful lunch in their courtyard. We enjoyed a bottle of their chardonnay with our lunch. It was very good. We bought a few bottles of wine and walked around the winery a little. Then it was time to head home. It was a great weekend. We got to see many things and experience many things as well. Click on the photo of the grape leaf to see a few photos from the day.

According to my calculations, this is my 500th post! I never imagined I'd get this far with this blog thing. Yay for me! In celebration of my 500th post I decided to do another podcast. I have a special guest on the podcast! I hope you enjoy it! Click on the podcast icon to download and listen to the podcast.

500

There doesn't seem to be much interest in my podcast so I'm not sure how many more I'll do. I only got three comments and one e-mail about it. Maybe it was boring. I don't know. Maybe no one who reads me has discovered the world of podcasting. If you haven't I suggest you check out Madge Weinstein of YeastRadio, Fausto of Feast of Fools.net, Wanda Wisdom of Lucky Bitch Radio, or Toby of Vivid Blurry.com. Any one of these would give you a good idea of what's involved with podcasting. I'm sure I'll do some more podcasting but I will also stick to traditional blogging.

I've got a busy weekend planned. W. and I are going away. We're going to Montross Virginia to visit my artist friend, Bob. We have a photo shoot planned on Saturday and then we are staying at The Inn at Montross for the evening. On Sunday we plan to visit Ingleside Vineyards to taste some wine and see the winery. It should be a fun weekend and spending it with W. will make even more special.

The weather has changed in the DC area. I talked about how hot it was yesterday on my podcast but in 24 hours the temperature has dropped 30 degrees and it rained today. We are in for more rain and cooler temperatures for the weekend. I hope it doesn't mess up the photo shoot I have planned on Saturday.

The internet is amazing. Just a minute ago I was listening to Madge Weinstein of Yeast Radio. She was performing at a Chicago bar and in the background was playing a song that I heard awhile ago. You might remember that video that was making the rounds on the internet of a fat guy in his room using a web cam to record him lipsyncing to a very club type song. I had no idea what the song was or who did it. Well, on the podcast I was listening to that song was playing in the background. I wanted to find out what the song was. I listened carefully and was able to figure out some of the lyrics. Of course then I googled the lyrics and found the name of the group. Then I went to the iTunes music store and did a search and found the exact album with a few versions of the song. I did all of this in a matter of like 2 minutes. It's just amazing what you can find on the internet and how fast you can find it. If you care to hear the song, click on the link below.

So I fiddled with creating a podcast and I think I may have done it successfully. Click on the podcast icon to download and listen to my first podcast. It's only about 10 minutes long but it's a 8.7 meg file. Let me know if you like it, want to hear more, or if it's stupid and I should stick to the traditional blogging. Enjoy!

Next up is He's The One by Timothy James Beck. This is a new author for me. I haven't read anything by him before. I think this is the second book he wrote. I don't have the first book but I already have the third book so if I like this one I may have to get his first book. Of course I checked out what the publisher had to say about the book:

From Timothy James Beck, the acclaimed author of It Had To Be You, comes his second delightfully witty, thoroughly heartfelt novel as he introduces a Midwestern jock-slash-computer geek who comes to the big city in search of love, career, friendship, and a chance to find out if...He's The One.

Something's gotta give for Adam Wilson. The hunky, sweet Midwestern entrepreneur might have a dream job, but his love life is anything but picture-perfect. The guys he dates usually turn out to have criminal records, bankruptcy histories, personality disorders, or wives. And for the first time in his life, Adam is ready to look for Mr. Right instead of Mr. Right-Out-the-Door. But where to look is more the question. It's not like bucolic, sleepy Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is exactly crawling with adorable, uncloseted gay men. Taking a job in New York City is awfully tempting, and when a computer company makes Adam an offer he can't refuse, he packs his flannel shirts and heads east in a hurry.

Like lots of driven, career-focused people before him (Think Marlo; think Mary Richards; rethink the flannel shirts...) Adam tackles the big city with farm-fresh enthusiasm, but the most breathtaking attraction of all is Jeremy, the blond, brown-eyed beauty Adam catches sight of in a Chelsea coffee shop. In addition to a buff bod and a to-die-for face, Jeremy's got a few other attributes like a heart, a soul, and a conscience. Trouble is, he may also have an annoying boyfriend bent on turning the sexy TV actor into the yoga-practicing equivalent of Mother Teresa with better shoes. Now that Adam's sure he's met the love of his life, how can he get Jeremy to fall in love with him? Catching Jeremy is going to take more than Adam's sweet-natured country enthusiasm.

Wry, and touching, He's The One asks the age-old question - Can a decent, well-adjusted gay man from small-town America find sex, love, and happiness in the big city? - and answers with a resounding, "Only if he knows where to look."

I finally had a photo shoot yesterday. I haven't had one in a long time. I've been concentrating on W. as my model the last few months. I won't ever tire of looking at and working on photos of him but others might want to see something new. My artist friend Bob and I coordinated two models to work with. They worked very well together for only meeting at the shoot. Both Bob and I got some really nice photos. I took over 500 photos but as any photographer knows, you can take hundreds and hundreds of photos and only get a handful that you want to use.

W. and I will be going down to visit Bob for another photo shoot next weekend. We'll be working with one of the same models we worked with yesterday but this time the photos will be taken outside in the woods. While there W. and I plan to stay the night at a local B&B and visit Ingleside Vineyards. It should be a fun weekend. Click on the photo above to see the photos from my latest shoot.

Last night W. and I got dressed up (that's us in the picture) and he took me to a wonderful italian restaurant for dinner. W. picked out a delicious red to have with our dinner. It was very nice. Today W. and I went on a few wine tastings in the Virginia countryside. We were headed to Grey Ghost Winery to pick up a case of wine W. had reserved but decided to stop at Pearmund Cellars in Broad Run, Virginia. There we tasted several wines and I picked up a bottle of their 2003 Viognier. I can't remember what kind W. bought. I think it was a red but I'm not sure. Then we went on to Grey Ghost and enjoyed their current tasting. We had a nice lunch that W. prepared with a bottle of their Victorian White. Before leaving we picked up W.'s case and I bought a bottle of their Vidal Blanc. My wine collection continues to grow! After the wine tastings we drove a little further down the road to Sperryville Virginia and went to a small art gallery to see some local art. There were a few pieces there I would have loved to buy but there's no way I could afford them on my salary. We had a wonderful weekend and the weather was perfect. Next weekend should be just as enjoyable.





On another note, big hugs to Homer. I'm thinkin about you!

I had a very busy day today. I had a photo shoot with my artist friend, Bob. We had two models today. The first one we shot by himself and then the second one came and we did a duo shoot. I think we got some really nice photos. I plan to use some of them in the art work I've been doing lately. I plan to work on a photo library and post it tomorrow sometime.

Now I'm off to a nice, romantic dinner with W. We are getting dressed up and he is taking me to a nice italian restaurant in Fairfax. Then of course we'll come home and continue the romantic evening. I'm looking forward to it. He's on his way over now to pick me up.

It's going to be a beautiful weekend!

I have a photo shoot planned for tomorrow with two models. Those of you who have been waiting for new photos won't have to wait much longer.

Some things never end. Think about it. You will always have dirty dishes to wash. You will always have laundry to do. You will always have cleaning to do. You will always pay taxes. You will always eat and drink. You will always pee and poop. You will always work wether you get paid for it or not. There will always be commercials on TV. You will always need to buy clothes. No matter how bald you become, you will always need to get a hair cut. It seems like there are things that you never finish. Or complete. Yes, you will get the laundry done for the week but what about the clothes you have on. That begins the cycle all over. And dishes. You always dirty dishes. You can run your dishwasher and get all your dishes clean but only until the next time you get a glass out for something to drink or a dish for something to eat. Some things never end.

I guess I'm behind the times in the geek world. Podcasting is the newest thing. I just recently found out about. One blog I read everyday, VividBlurry.com, started Podcasting this week. I downloaded and listened to his podcasts so far and they are pretty cool. I think they are MP3 files. You are supposed to download the files and put them on your iPod to listen to at a later time. I haven't done that. I listened to them right on my computer. Sounds like he has quite a set up to create the podcasts. I haven't the first clue how to do it. I've done some searches on the internets but haven't downloaded or bought any software to help me create these podcasts. Plus, once I got the right software, what would I talk about? I think I would need someone here to have a conversation with. I think me talking by myself would be quite boring. I tried using the internal microphone on my iMac and some very simple audio recording software but it sounds like shit when I play it back. I think it's picking up the fan noise from my computer.

Has anyone else looked into Podcasting? And if so, what software do you use? Do you use a microphone or your internal microphone? I think I need to do a lot more research before I attempt to create a podcast. I want it to sound decent so I know I'll have to work on it a bit longer before I create one on my own.

Today Apple announced the release date for Mac OS 10.4, Tiger. It will be released on Friday, April 29th. I ordered my copy at 10:43 this morning. I am really looking forward to this release. There are so many new features and upgraded features available in this release.

There are a few features I'm really looking forward to. Spotlight is Apple's new system search engine. "Stop looking. Start finding. With Spotlight, you can find anything on your computer as quickly as you type. Search your entire system from one place: Files, emails, contacts, images, calendars and applications appear instantly." I think this will be an easy to find stuff that you search through folders looking for. Should be a great tool. Dashboard is another great tool I'm looking forward to. It's a set of little applications that run in the background that do all kinds of things. "Check the time, watch the weather, track flights, view stock prices and find a local restaurant. Instantly. With a single click, the Dashboard zooms across your Desktop, giving you fast access to nifty widgets designed for fun as well as function." I actually think this will be replacing the old Sherlock, which is fine because that was showing it's age and wasn't always working.

There are other things I'm looking forward to and I'm sure I'll spend lots time fooling with all the features once I get it. I always anticipate a new OS release and this one should be a big one. The waiting begins now.

There is a shift happening in television. This season has seen the return of episodic TV. I think ABC has a lot to do with it. Yes, I know there has been lots of cop shows, crime shows, and CSI's out there for awhile now but they aren't the same as the crop of shows that I've come to enjoy this season. It started with Desperate Housewives and Lost at the beginning of the season. After the first episode of Desperate Housewives I was hooked. I watched the first episode of Lost but didn't really care for it. I've been watching a LOT of reality TV in recent years and haven't really followed any episodic TV. Maybe it's always been there and I am only now getting hooked. Who knows. But I've been hooked on these shows all season. And now there is Grey's Anatomy.

I don't know if you've watched the first 3 episodes of this show but I am hooked. Actually, I was hooked after the first 3 minutes of the first episode when I got to see hunky Patrick Dempsey half naked. I happened to catch the first 3 minutes after Desperate Housewives and thought I should stay up to see this new show. I didn't that first night. But on Saturday ABC reran the first two episodes and I taped them. I also taped last night's episode. I just finished watching all three and I really like this show. Besides Dempsey, the cast is full of basically unknown actors. I think that's a plus. Oh, but there is Sandra Oh who was in Sideways and several other shows but she's not really a major celebrity. Anyway, I've never really enjoyed hospital drama shows (I've never watched ER or Chicago Hope, but I did watch St. Elsewhere) but for some reason I like following the interns as they learn their way and earn their stripes in the hospital. If you aren't already a fan of Grey's Anatomy, check it out on Sunday nights after Desperate Housewives. It's a good show.

What a beautiful day! W. and I went to Carderock Maryland today. It's the Maryland side of Great Falls. We decided to go on a hike and I picked out the Billy Goat trail. There are three sections of the Billy Goat trail. I picked out the shortest, easiest section to go on. However, according to our directions, we ended up on the more strenuous section of the trail that included lots of rock climbing. I know W. was expecting a simple walk in the woods but he got quite a rock climb. I think he had a good time though. I totally enjoyed climbing on the rocks, taking photos, and enjoying the scenery. I want to go again when we can spend more time doing more of the trails. The section we did was about 4 miles. I forgot to wear my pedometer so I have no idea the exact millage. On the way back we walked along the towpath. It was completely flat and so much easier to walk along.

Does anyone know what kind of flowers those are in the picture? W. and I saw them all over the place but have no idea what they are. We also so lots of other flowers and identified some. All the trees had the buds bursting. In just a few short weeks the leaves will be shading the ground. We saw lots of geese, a few hawks, and even a hering flying overhead. I took lots of photos while on our hike.

There's nothing like an afternoon on the couch watching TV enjoying a blowjob.

Last night I finally finished reading Trust Fund Boys by famous author Rob Byrnes . I can't remember when I started reading it but I know it's been a long time. I only read for a few minutes before bed each night. In any case, I enjoyed the book. It was a fun story about a guy trying to climb the social ladder without letting anyone know about his past or the pack of lies he told to get there. It was humorous at times and you wanted to cheer for his successes and curse him when he made stupid mistakes. It was an enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone interest in a light, fun story. He also wrote The Night We Met which was another fun read. I wonder if he's working on anything new. I like reading books by the same author.




Next up is The Order of the Poison Oak by Brent Hartinger. This book is the sequel to Geogarphy Club . I read that book awhile ago and really enjoyed it. This one sounds like it will be just as enjoyable. This one is set in a summer camp with many of the same characters from the last book. Here's what the publisher says:

Geography Club's Russel Middlebrook is back, and he and his friends are off to work as counselors at a summer camp. Brent Hartinger's third novel is the story of Indian legends, skinny-dipping in moonlit coves, and passionate summer romance. It's also the story of Russel's latest club, the Order of the Poison Oak, a secret society dedicated to helping its members see life's hidden beauty and accept its sometimes painful sting.

Is it me or have there been a lot of famous people dying lately? In the last few weeks a good handful of famous people have died. Here are just a few:

Frank Perdue (the chicken guy)
Johnnie Cochran (the OJ lawyer)
Terri Schiavo (the vegetable)
Saul Bellow (famous writer)
Pope John Paul II (that pope guy)
Prince Rainier Grimaldi (prince of Monaco)

and finally, Bubba the Lobster. He was a 22 pound lobster that was saved from being eaten and taken to the zoo. Shortly after his move he got a bacterial infection and died. Damn, they should have just eaten him and been done with it.

Poop. Crap. Shit. Dump. Everyone does it. You have to or you'd explode. The thing is, not many people talk about it. It's almost a taboo subject. Generally I'm a pretty regular guy. However, when I travel or visit someone my body realizes I'm not in the comfort of my own home and shuts down. My body just says nope, not here, it's not home. So I end up not going until I get home. I've worked at the same place for 18 years but have never taken a poop at work. I know some people can just go anywhere at anytime. There's a guy at work who goes everyday at the same time and is proud of it. He talks about it like it's a big accomplishment. I'm just not like that.

What about when you're dating someone? When does your body realize it's okay to poop at their place? Again, my body shuts down and won't let that happen. I've been spending a lot of time with W. lately. Each weekend I spend with him my body just won't let it happen. It hasn't realized that his place is safe. It usually takes me a long time to feel comfortable to poop at someone else's place. So imagine my surprise this weekend when my body realized W.'s place is safe and let me have a poop. I was amazed! I think that says a lot about how comfortable I feel at W.'s place when my body let's that happen. I was pleased. And there's nothing like the feeling after a good dump. hahahaha

On Sunday we moved the clocks forward one hour. This didn't effect me on Sunday at all. But last night and today it has kicked my ass. Last night I stayed up to watch Desperate Housewives and by the time it was over I was dead tired. It was really 11:00 when it was over but my clock was only saying 10:00. That's already 30 minutes past my bedtime but 30 minutes doesn't usually effect me too much. Well, I fell right to sleep last night but woke up at 3:30 AM which is really 4:30 AM, my regular wake up time. 3:30 was just too early to get up. I tried going back to sleep but I couldn't. All day today I've been really tired and out of it. I hate this time change. I usually don't have a problem with the Fall time change because we gain an hour but when we lose an hour it totally messes up my sleep schedule. When I got home from work today I decided to take a little nap. An hour later I woke up and cursed the time change. Anytime I take a nap it's difficult for me to fall asleep at my regular time. But I was so tired I needed a little nap. It will take a few days to adjust to the change and I'll hate it until I get back to my regular sleep pattern.

I heard on a news show yesterday that the time change has nothing to do with the farmers. It actually started out in Germany and then adopted by other countries in the early 1900's. It has been an on and off thing in the U.S. since 1918. In 1986 legislation was enacted that finally made it permanent. And it has nothing to do with farmers needing more daylight time to work their fields. The basic premise was to have more daylight time period, for everyone to take advantage of daylight hours. Well, with the abundance of lighting fixtures we have today, do we really need this change? I say no. However, we had plenty of light in 1986 so I guess the only reason the U.S. adopted legislation was go along with the rest of the world. Whatever. I hate it.

This weekend W. introduced me to a new wine, some delicious new foods, and a great restaurant.

Friday night we enjoyed some Vouvray. It's a fruity, sweet white wine. We enjoyed it with some nibbles. This will be a wine I will add to my favorites list. After watching all Pope, all the time TV, Saturday evening we enjoyed a glass of Grenache with some dark chocolate and cookies. W. then made a delicious dinner of London Broil, Basmati rice, and asparagus (I didn't have any asparagus). With this dinner we had a nice Cabernet Sauvingon. The meal was delicious. We decided to compare wines with our meal. We had both the Grenache and the Cabernet with our meal. W. said, "We noticed that the Grenache had a more peppered/tobacco taste with the beef; the Cabernet was dry and fruity with a smoother finish. Both tasted excellent." W. does so enjoy pairing wines with food. I trust his judgment. Of course W. got me all liquored up and I was pretty silly the rest of the evening. But we had fun.

Today we decided to walk up to the Cathedral gardens to see if anything was blooming yet. I thought I'd be tough and wear shorts. It was cold as hell outside and the wind was wiping up! I should have worn pants. Anyway, we went to the gardens and there wasn't much blooming yet so we decided we'd go back in a few weeks. On the way home we went to 2 Amys pizzeria. I had a pepperoni neopolitan pizza. It was VERY good. It's a great little restaurant. I had my camera with me and when we sat down and looked across the restaurant I saw a scene I would have loved to have captured. It wasn't anything spectacular, just people sitting at tables eating, but through my eyes it looked like it would have created a great photo. I didn't want the patrons to think I was weird or anything so I didn't take a picture. I should have though. During the weekend I took lots of pictures of W. posing different ways and of many other things. Here are just two from the weekend that I really liked. I know they don't really go together but I think they are pretty good photos anyway.

W. and I have been on Pope watch since I got to his place last night. Every few hours we would check the news websites to see if the pope had died. He hadn't each time we checked. When we got up this morning we checked the websites again and sure enough he was still alive but barely hanging on. Each time we checked, the headline said something about him being in very serious condition and close to death. He just kept hanging on.

This afternoon while W. was doing laundry I turned on the TV to see if there was anything to watch. All the news channels were reporting that he was still alive and hanging on. While I was channel surfing (which I do very well) I saw on Fox news that the Pope had died. Not believing anything that Fox news reports, I scanned more channels and found that indeed it was true, the Pope had died.

As most of you know, I am not religious at all and don't have any strong feelings about the Pope dying. But I do like the history of it all. In my lifetime there have only been 3 Popes. I don't remember the first one that was selected. The second one was only in for a month or so and then came John Paul II. I was 14 when he was selected. I don't remember much about the ritual of selection except for the smoke being released to announce the selection had been made. Now I'm old enough to remember and appreciate the history behind the selection of a new Pope. Like an American election, I will enjoy following the process involved with selecting the new Pope. I know I'll be watching a lot of it on TV and listening and watching Pope TV 24/7 to follow the process. It won't be a religious thing for me, it will be a historical thing for me. Like when you say you can remember where you were when President Reagan was shot, you can say you remember when the last Pope was selected. I will actually enjoy following the process.

I could write some funny post for April Fool's Day, but I won't. W. surprised me by taking an earlier flight home. He got home this afternoon. So I don't have to pick him up at the airport this evening. When I got home I got his messages and called him back. I did a few quick things around the house, took a shower, packed a bag and now I'm off to spend the weekend with him.

Have a great weekend!