buses [04 Jul 2009|02:43am] grandrapidsmi [golddustdreams] Are buses closed on Independence Day? I tried looking on the site just to make sure but I couldn't find it anywhere. I'm sure they probably are.... ???

NAME THAT SCHNOZ!!! [03 Jul 2009|09:23pm] nose_fetish [bionerdlover] Well, I have to be honest...I'm not sure how many people here will get these. I made this for my private LJ and I thought it would be fun to post it here. See, everyone I know knows I have a thing for noses and they know the guys whose noses I love too! So sorry if it's a little too challenging but enjoy! I'll post the results next week!!! ???

Yep... [04 Jul 2009|04:13am] nose_fetish [jaysays2008] ..sometimes i hate it, sometimes i love it :0 4 !!!???

Pride and other family runions [03 Jul 2009|09:41pm] groove_adam http://grooveadam.blogspot.com/2009/07/pride-and-other-family-runions.html Last weekend was the second gay pride while dating a boy and I am happy for that fact -- I didn't see anyone I wanted. The bodies on parade were all boring and had nothing to offer. Not even the flashiness of the ideal gay male form -- which hasn't changed much since those fags the ancient Greeks, with the exception of our modern large phallus fixation that is antithetical to those dignified shriveled ones as seen on all the statues (ancient Greek adolescence wasn't marred by Internet pornography, although I am sure pederasty probably had its own negative effects on budding male sexuality). Even though the ideal gay male body is not much different than the Greeks, there seem to be a few exceptions based on my observations at a Midwestern gay pride parade. Something about many of the bodies I saw seemed so trapped in the 1990s. Mainly the blond crew cuts and hairlessness. I don't know what it is about gay male sexuality that seems so trapped in the 1990s but can we leave right now? I'm starting to see a cautious return to pubic hair that manages to escape the pink radars of hairless blond bitches. Someone complimented my boyfriend's light chest hair that he does not trim by my request. I like grown men after all. I saw the tans, the spandex short shorts, a few 4-pack and 6-pack abs, and wondered if this was supposed to be my passion. And if these bodies were only just okay, even compared to what vapid images they subscribe to, I can't imagine the personalities behind them. It's expected that eye candy has no substance, so when the candy in front of you isn't pleasing this is a tragedy. Tragedy is a word I can never spell right the first time. Many of my gay brethren already had tans before the three hour parade where the majority of us non-leather looking people got burned. My boyfriend and I, and anyone else who doesn't regularly tan, ended up looking like lobsters. I felt like the B52s might take a look at us and write a song about it. We were complimented a number of times as looking good together. After the pride parade we ended up at Berlin (the club) around 5 PM. The events were somewhat hazy but I do remember sipping on Lady Miss Kier's champagne -- who hasn't changed too much from the 90s. She was only a few feet in front of us (Photos courtesy of friend Robin). Before Pride B and I spent the day in a town comparable to Deerfield, Michigan. That is where he is from and it is literally an island non-oasis in a cornfield. Quite underwhelming. Certainly not very cosmopolitan or very gay male (small towns make better havens for lesbians who have an odd way of blending in. Or maybe it's a certain kind of resilience like the bacteria that will survive another ice age). I watched a woman hosing down her hideously green siding and wondered what the point was other than needing something to do to distract from awareness of her own mortality. I looked at the boy and his town and identified some with this. I grew up in a town I would consider small but not 1100 small. I mean he was included in the census on the sign you see while entering the town. I had a high school separate from my grade school although not filled with anyone who would understand me either. Turns out I wouldn't find that in Chicago either. I would have to meet someone from central Illinois yet with cosmopolitan tastes that started when he was hoarding Grey Goose vodka to get him through his boring high school. I met his parents and felt like they could have been from my family. They were just like some of my relatives who don't know how to talk to me because in their minds I am still the child who was the perfect distraction from mental images of my parents having sex. I will never grow up in their minds unless I am married and have a conversation crutch I mean child. B and I talked about how we think older family members struggle with images of recently grown up family members (and their significant others) having sex. But how our straight counterparts diffuse these images by producing a child. We drank beer, I met his sister, his dad, and his young nephew who exhibits characteristics I've noticed in him. He's got adorable curious eyes, appears to be in his own world, is able to entertain himself, and has an oral fixation. The kid kept going for the lemonade. After going to the cooler several times he proceeded to the inflatable pool where he probably peed himself. Yep, not too far off from his uncle. A very non-Kylie cover of her 1989 (s)hit Hand On Your Heart. Non-Kylie in the sense that this is really quite nice and doesn't make you want to cover your ears. ???

box spring [03 Jul 2009|09:23am] grandrapidsmi [thellamaqueen] Where's a good place to buy a cheap (used is totally acceptable) box spring in the Grand Rapids/Wyoming area?  Our guest bed's box spring is busted and we have company coming in 5 days. ahhhh. 4 !!!???

Aromatherapy [03 Jul 2009|03:34am] grandrapidsmi [x_crash_into_me] Anyone know of a store in Grand Rapids, or nearby, that has aromatherapy items [such as pure essential oils] & other holistic type things? Google is not yielding me answers. And while I'm asking, what about any kind of classes like those? I found a few aromatherapy classes, but they're expensive classes to become certified, and I'm not looking to become certified, just more educated. I know they have them, I just don't know how to find them! Thanks in advance! ???

[30 Jun 2009|11:34pm] mari_mari I love reading back through this thing. I hope LJ never accidentally erases it. ???

WIFFLEBALL!!! [30 Jun 2009|06:54pm] grandrapidsmi [martymarsprstar] Hey Grand Rapids, do you like playing wiffleball?? If you do, you should join us for wiffleball games Sundays at noon and Wednesdays at 7pm at Highland Park ( MAP ) We have all the equipment....just bring yourself and the willingness to have fun!! Join our Facebook group HERE Hope to see you out there!! ???

selling used cds? [30 Jun 2009|06:34pm] grandrapidsmi [primeduchess] Does anyone know if Vertigo buys used cds anymore? or anywhere else that does? I'm looking to purge my cd collection. 2 !!!???

Are you looking for somewhere to live starting in August? [29 Jun 2009|10:54pm] grandrapidsmi [hilaryann] I'm looking for someone to sublease my room in a great 3-bedroom house in Midtown, starting August 1st, because I'm moving across the country. 1: The house is big and spacious, with hardwood floors throughout and big windows in every room. Dishwasher, garbage disposal in the sink, clawfoot bathtub, washer & drier, lots of room for storage in the attic and basement. Also a big comfy 4-seasons porch out front that doubles as a smoking lounge because we don't smoke in the actual house, and big fenced-in backyard. The landlord obviously takes really good care of this place because it's in great condition. 2: The neighborhood is the "families with dogs" sort so it's nice and quiet most of the time, not really the raging parties and rowdy student houses sort at all. 3: The two girls you'd be living with are both nice early-twenties young women who work and go to school much of the time. Also both spend time at their boyfriends' houses a lot. So you probably won't see much of them but they're cool girls anyhow. They're both very tidy so you don't have to worry about being stuck with a couple of slobs :) There are also two cats, both of which are young and hilarious and very chill. 4: Rent is $230 a month plus gas and electric, both of which have been really low so far. There's also wireless internet and basic cable, which is only $25/month split three ways. 5: Here is a Google Map of the location. 6: Please let me know if you're interested, and I can show you the house. My email gets forwarded to my phone so I can get back to you right away. 7 !!!???

blaming teachers for why I suck at the social sciences [29 Jun 2009|02:57am] rksdf Making the transition from America back to England generally takes me a couple weeks. This transition is not as long when I take a day flight, but as there are no day flights from Detroit and as I have been flying from Detroit since last year, I must endure the night flight and its corresponding longer transition period. The transition period is marked by an inability to sleep when I ought/want to be sleeping. My trip back would not have been typical if it had not been interrupted by some travel calamity. This time, it was the delay of my flight from Saginaw to Detroit, not because of any weather or lack of a plane, but because of lack of crew. My parents drove me to Detroit from the airport in Saginaw (for which I am grateful), and once I was able to check in and get on the plane, there were no issues. I am now back comfortably at home, my inability to sleep at the right times notwithstanding. My current insomnia has given rise to my consideration of the following: whether I have a general dislike of the social sciences because I never had a proper foundation in the social sciences or because of my disposition generally (long story short: it's both). I did not have any competent social sciences teachers in high school. I had two years of history which were large wastes of time--the one year focused primarily on coloring in line drawings of warriors from different ages in history while the other year comprised effectively watching Hollywood movies and Dick Cavett episodes and was occasionally peppered with reading an American history text (from which I remember absolutely no content) and taking badly designed quizzes. I got an A+ in both classes (and compiled the final exam for the first class, but that is another story and one made less interesting by the fact that no one ever took the test due to cancellation of exams in June 1998--I took one exam that semester, for Chemistry 1, and I got a 92.8% on it--it was my only A- of high school, and it is altogether another story, which I haven't really been able to write yet). My third year of social sciences in high school consisted of a semester of government and a semester of economics. In government, every couple weeks or so we got a sheet of paper that had newspaper cutouts of paragraphs from articles (never actually whole articles), which paragraphs included the names of senators/politicians/etc. or places. Every time we would come to a name, the teacher would shout 'Name!' and he would say the name. That was our cue to write it down on a sheet of paper. After he said the name, he would say something about the name--I still remember one. "Name! Rick Santorum. Junior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania." Naturally, it's a good one to remember as he is no longer in office. Part of our requirement for the class was to compile all the names and places into two master lists--each name/place had to be numbered and in the correct order for full credit. We had tests in the class, too, where the teacher would say either "Rick Santorum" or "Junior U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania," and we would have to write down the corresponding portion of the definition. If you think I am making this shit up, here are my people and places "master lists." People Places I see that Rick Santorum is not on my list. That might be due to the fact that the teacher taught two sections of government, and he wanted to ensure that the lists in each class were exactly the same--so, if one course covered more than the other, those names had to fall away. Economics wasn't similarly egregious; it was just boring, unmemorable and generally unpleasant. I disliked the course enough to prompt me to avoid all economics courses at Chicago. My development in the social sciences in college was so-so: I really liked my American history sequence, but I struggled in my social/political thought sequence (in a nutshell: I didn't/don't understand ancient political thought at all; I think I understand Hobbes but in all likelihood don't; I over-attribute good things to Locke; I under-attribute good things to Rousseau; and I am able to boil pretty much everything down to Locke and so do not see the need for Tocqueville, Marx or Nietzsche). It's probably best not to get into my time in law school, but it should suffice to say that being a lawyer has very little to do with the study of law as a social science and that any intellectual development in law school only served to undo other prior intellectual development which I valued more--my loss, obviously. Probably it is safe to conclude that I am generally disposed not to have an interest in the social sciences and that, because my exposure to the subject was inadequate in high school and bad, the experience both helped to sour me against the social sciences and to ensure I was not adequately prepared to handle the topic when I needed to grapple with it more sincerely. This state of affairs can be contrasted with my four years of grammar in high school at the hands of three very competent grammar teachers as the basis for getting me interested in language and being more than ready for handling whatever Amy Dahlstrom and Jason Merchant could throw at me. I struggled a fair bit and for a long time with what Anastasia Giannakidou threw at me, but the struggle was worth it, and I don't think it's quite over yet, but we'll see. It's late, and I should be asleep, but instead I am thinking, likely thinking too much, and things are getting far too speculative even for my tastes. Stay ever vigilant-- /B/ 1 !!!???

AT&T U-verse [26 Jun 2009|05:23pm] grandrapidsmi [whitewashsunset] [ mood | frustrated ] So the boyfriend and I have had it up to here with Comcast and their constant shenanigans. We looked and they're finally offering AT&T in our area (despite delivering fliers for over a year). We were wondering if anyone else goes through AT&T, specifically for cable and internet, and how your experience has been. Obviously, as much as we hate comcast, we'd prefer to stick with the lesser of 2 evils if that's the case (but we're hoping it's not). 10 !!!???

Super Happy Funtime Burlesque from Grand Rapids, MI [26 Jun 2009|01:59am] grandrapidsmi [joethecabdriver] 4 YEARS!!!! Hard to believe it but SHFTB has been having wacky adventures in GR for nearly half a decade now. Police raids, idle threats, lambasted by 'Gonzo' on his stellar 'webblog', kicked out of the Meijer Gardens, and performed on stages all over the state of Michigan every month; GRAND RAPIDS' FINEST WORK OF UNDERGROUND MUSICAL THEATRE RETURNS HOME ON JULY 11 TO CELEBRATE ITS 4TH ANNIVERSARY!!!! Only fitting then that this event at SHFTB's home base, The Wealthy Theatre, is its first theatrical event WITH ALCOHOL SERVED!! Thats right, folks, Wealthy Theatre got its liquor license. Only thing is its a club license so you gotta be a theatre member if you want to drink. We're sweetening the deal by offering this little incentive: THEATRE MEMBERS GET IN FOR FREE!!! Thats right, Junior, if you are a CMC member you don't gotta buy a ticket and thats 10 more dollars closer to waking up in the gutter. Theatre membership is only 25 bucks a year, thats the price of two tickets and a jack and coke- SO GET YERSELF A MEMBERSHIP, CHUBBY!!! Join Mr Happypants, LaLa Vulvaria, Velveeta the Cheeta, Vivacious Miss Audacious, Sarah Jean Adventuretime, Duchess Von Doom, Original Cin, Camilla Cupcake, Philly Goodtimes, Regular Guy Josh Fremer, Joe the Cabdriver, AND THE UNBELIEVABLE END TIMES ORCHESTRA on July 11th at 8pm for a celebration that is sure to leave jaws on the floor!! 1 !!!???

Dee list [25 Jun 2009|10:28pm] groove_adam http://grooveadam.blogspot.com/2009/06/lady-miss-kier-of-dee-lite-in-chi-town.html Lady Miss Kier of Dee-Lite in Chi-Town for Pride on Sunday. ???

[25 Jun 2009|08:52pm] sailor_ashley ???

On countering jealousy and anger: lessons from playing othello with my boyfriend [23 Jun 2009|05:45pm] groove_adam http://grooveadam.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-countering-jealousy-and-anger.html The title of this entry pertains to Othello the board game and not the tragedy by Shakespeare. Though a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions led to the desire to look for something that could help bring my boyfriend and I closer. Neither of us had any coupons left for rekindling the relationship when we went to a Meijer and purchased the game along with a bottle of wine and frozen pizza. Both of us never cared much for board games and I really don't know how it was suggested that we find a hobby to pursue together. It was probably me and my knowledge that forcing yourself to get involved with activities can help in the treatment of depression. I originally suggested Risk, a game I owned as a child but never figured out how to play. I was an above average child when it came to brains but was never good at the strategy involved in game play. I was a nerd who wasn't into chess. I felt like an old man in a child's body only I tried dominoes once and hated them. What I liked were maps and geography, which all of that information I have lost. I think I traded it all for just enough knowledge of psychology to drive myself (and others) crazy. Just enough awareness to realize how limited I am in my understanding of the world. All of the knowledge of state capitols like minutes lost because of a late train. A late train passing through Springfield -- the capitol of Illinois -- on the way to see my boyfriend. Risk is supposedly suitable for ages 12 and up, although at 24 and 23 neither he nor I had the attention span to figure out game play. We even watched a YouTube video saying how easy the game was to learn. It's a good thing we looked up the directions online before purchasing the game. The directions were probably not that complicated nor beyond our understanding. We just didn't buy into the point. None of us are very egotistical, so world domination, eh, who cares. We saw the sleek box on sale for $10. Othello seemed like odd name for a game. I didn't have any knowledge of the Shakespeare play but now that I look up the themes it almost seems uncanny us buying the game at this time in our relationship. The game is for ages 8 and up and is marketed as taking "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master." A perfect choice for two boys who don't want to invest time in learning the complicated rules of a pointless game. The game took a little longer than a minute to learn. I always wonder who writes the instructions for these type of games. It seems like the task of trying to come up with paper instructions for riding a bicycle, when really you just need to ride and figure it out on your own. We put on the Pandora Thievery Corporation station, opened our wine, and waited for the frozen pizza to finish. The only room in the apartment with any kind of relief from the heat was the dining room. We started playing the game with an idea of the basic instructions. I felt relaxed. This was good because I can get kind of competitive with games. I haven't really invested time in game play of anything, which is why I probably have a history of losses. A lot of negative associations with games. I also don't have the kind of mind -- I think -- for the type of analytical thinking involved in game play. I am left-handed which means I supposedly utilize more of the right hemisphere of my brain (see lateralization of brain function). B noticed that I was using my right hand more during game play which made me think about this. I won the practice game which I said wouldn't count but I still take it into consideration since my ego is damaged from losing 2 "real" games. When you count the practice game we both won 2 games. In any case our relationship is up by 10 points. Both of us are looking forward to playing the game together this Friday instead of going out. Yes I can't believe I am saying this but we really have become a couple of boring fags. Though we do manage to be creative in our conversation and in many other areas. Who needs a nightclub when you have the music, the alcohol, and the one you've always wanted to hit on you in your apartment already? 1 !!!???

[23 Jun 2009|10:14am] kersy My last post turned out to be a bit ironic when Richard picked me up from work and we started discussing the details of his morning dentist appt. I've been privileged in many ways concerning health: I've always had insurance and a giant parental safety net, I was raised with an understanding of health and proper nutrition, my mom is a nurse so I've always gone to the doctor, and I have good genetics. Few people have these things, but even then healthcare is still not affordable, esp when your life and finances are entwined with a person who hasn't had these privileges. To make a long story short, as Richard aptly put it, for everything good the doctor had to say about my teeth, there was only bad news for Richard. And as we looked at our dental plans and our budget and the dental work that needs done, we repeated exactly what was said in my last post and in every post in that nytimes article - healthcare doesn't come down to what you need and what's best for your health but what you can afford. And that's sick. Let's make single payer happen. 1 !!!???

A moving comment in the nyt [22 Jun 2009|03:13pm] kersy About healthcare reform: Boehner says: “….empowering government bureaucrats — not patients and doctors — to make key medical decisions is not reform.” Um, I have pretty good private health insurance. But still, in the end, neither myself nor my doctor have the final say on “key medical decisions.” Rather, bureaucrats and accounts at my HMO make those decisions for me; I simply can’t afford to pay for procedures, prescriptions, and other health items they won’t cover in full or close to in full. My wife and I had to make a decision about an important prescription for our daughter a couple of years ago. Because it was only 20% covered by insurance (and because this would have been a recurring, month-long prescription) we had to make the choice not to get it for her. In the end, it turned out fine. But the bottom line is, we had to make a MEDICAL decision based on what it cost, and that’s a horrific decision no parent should have to make for their child. Yet, in this country, countless parents do have to make those decisions every single day. We spend more per-capita on healthcare than any other country in the world, and still we have 40 million uninsured, and only the most deluded person would claim our system is the best in the world. It’s time for change. And the only way to have REAL change is to have mandated healthcare for all with a true public option. The rest of it is just hanging curtains in an already-burned-down house. link 2 !!!???

a fun, smart game! [22 Jun 2009|06:08pm] strawdogs [ mood | tired ] ALBERT EINSTEIN'S RIDDLE: 1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colours. 2. In each house lives a person of different nationality. 3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke a different brand of cigar and keep a different pet. THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH? HINTS 1. The Brit lives in a red house. 2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets. 3. The Dane drinks tea. 4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house. 5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee. 6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds. 7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill. 8. The man living in the centre house drinks milk. 9. The Norwegian lives in the first house. 10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats. 11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill. 12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer. 13. The German smokes Prince. 14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house. 15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water. ALBERT EINSTEIN WROTE THIS RIDDLE EARLY DURING THE 19th CENTURY. HE SAID THAT 98% OF THE WORLD POPULATION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SOLVE IT. [I personally don't think that stat is accurate.] This took me a little less than two hours to do. It took Renée 26 minutes. I really want you all to try it! 11 !!!???

[22 Jun 2009|11:45am] glass_gloss I took my dog to the vet and they gave me back a lamp with no lightbulb (and no testicles). ???

big doooooooooooooooooooooobAAAAAAGGGGGG [22 Jun 2009|02:45am] beachgrass Got this today from one of my adoring fans: yer a fuckin doosh bAAAAAAG, I LOVE YER FIRST ALBUM but honestly wny cant you be open minded AT llL cant you just be cool evey thing we do dosnt mean shit the guy im hanging out wioth is narly and he will drop me like a fly ....and writing this isnt gopnnnnA but this wont ammmmont to shit cuz im wasted and no one likes me and im a big doooooooooooooooooooooobAAAAAAGGGGGG. FUCK IT ALLLLLL JUST LET IT KILLLLL YA. A letter like this makes it all worth while. 4 !!!???

baby birdies [20 Jun 2009|05:42pm] grandrapidsmi [betterintype] I rescued two baby birdies off the street a little bit ago, right now I have them in an aquarium with grass and water. what do I do next? is there a place I can take them? they need food.. any suggestions? I dunno really what to do now, I just didnt want them getting run over by a car, or eaten.. 6 !!!???

stuff for sale! [20 Jun 2009|11:53am] grandrapidsmi [rebooten_tag] Yeah. it's me again.  Sorry in advance.  I'm still trying to find a job but with how the economy is here in Michigan, it's pretty hard to get a job. * 17 inch Acer LCD Monitor Model AL 1716W A - $80 * The venture Brothers Seasons 1 & 2 - $20 * Back to the Future I, II, III - like new - $30 * Indiana Jones all 4 DVDs - $30 * Firefly and Serenity DVDs - $35 * Fable 2 & Official Strategy guide - $50 * Scrubs Seasons 1 - 7 - $80 * 4 GB Micro SD card - $20 Like i've said before. I got fired on May 22nd, and I have bills to pay, so I need money and I've got some pretty nice stuff here.  All of the DVDs are in great condition and some of them have only been watched once or twice.    Please help out an unemployed friend. I live in Kentwood between 60th and 52nd, Kalamazoo ave & the East Beltline.  I'll be home all day today pretty much.  Call me at 616-334-7467. ???

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