Monday, June 28, 2010

Happy Birthday, Jan!

Jan Davis, world famous blogger, turned another year older today!  A lady never tells her age, but her voicemail password sure does (062874)!

I thought this day special enough to see what else might have gone on during past June 28ths.

Turns out several important things have happened!  June 28 is like a trip down memory lane of useless pop culture.  Not only did the one and only Mike Tyson take a large bite out of Evander Holyfield's ear, but Elian Gonzalez was returned to Cuba.  Not to be outdone, the US government made news of its own, several times.  In one of its more bone-headed decisions, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts could bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders.  In an effort to redeem itself, four years later they ruled that enemy combatants could challenge their detention in US courts.

Other notable June 28th birthdays include Mel Brooks, Kathy Bates and John Elway!  Denver must be partying tonight!  Still, my most favorite older person today is Miss Jennifer Dennis.  Here's to you, Jenn!  Mikey saved you some ear to celebrate.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Gateway to the Ozark Playgrounds

Shout out to our blogging sistah, Heather McD!  I laughed uproariously at your adventures in Joplin, H.  In celebration of all your hard work (and your inspiration), I wanted to share what I found.  Thanks to wikipedia, mostly.  Now that I think about it, given one of the things I learned (small population), it's likely that Will, his family, and now Heather herself have contributed to that page!



I always want to get my bearings when I'm in a new place.  And how do I do that?  Well, I find out what famous people were born/are from the place I'm in!  Turns out I don't really know any of these people, though I'm sure some would make interesting party guests!


Famous people born in Joplin, Missouri

[edit]Notable residents of Joplin, Missouri



The other thing I learned was that H is kind of a liar.  She says Joplin is very hot.  Wikipedia states quite clearly that the average temperature in June is 85 degrees Fahrenheit.  The current temperature is a comfortable 78 degrees.  Hardly "hotter than the surface of the sun".

The local population concerns itself with water quality, mostly.  Or at least I think so.  I got kind of tired of researching.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Good thing I was a prude growing up!

Thanks to Sara "Fatty Pot Roast" Crangle for the scoop.

NEW YORK:   "Report Finds Alarming STD Rate in Our Region"
Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester)     (04.28.10):: Patti Singer

A new Excellus BlueCross BlueShield report shows the Finger Lakes region's chlamydia rate exceeds the state's average, as does the area's rate of gonorrhea among teens.

The region - composed of Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Ontario, Yates, and Seneca counties - has a chlamydia rate of 407 cases per 100,000 population, compared with a state rate of 369 per 100,000. The Finger Lakes' gonorrhea rate among those ages 15-19 was 548 cases per 100,000, compared with 314 for teens statewide, the report said, citing three-year average data from the New York State Community Health Data Set-2007. The report examined the 39 upstate counties that are part of Excellus' service area.

Finger Lakes also was highest among upstate regions for rates of HIV (9.5 per 100,000), AIDS (9.3), and syphilis (2.1), though these figures were below the corresponding state rates. A chief concern is that STD infections help facilitate HIV transmission.

Dr. Marybeth McCall, chief medical officer for Excellus, said the report should serve to start conversations between teens and their parents about safe sex and sexual health. "We have to be able to talk about risk, to talk about infections, to talk about symptoms, to have our children seek care," she said.

The region has a history of high STD rates: A 2006 CDC STD Surveillance report showed the Rochester metropolitan area was the highest in the nation for gonorrhea and chlamydia. A 2008 CDC report ranked the city ninth for chlamydia and 27th for gonorrhea.

A large number of college students in the area and the frequency of travel between Rochester and New York City may be reasons for the high rates.

STD education, testing, and treatment are essential, particularly for young people, "who don't think about themselves as having any susceptibility to disease," said McCall.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Pride Denver

So, truth be told, I haven't attended Pride Parade in Denver in AGES.  My only excuse is it's usually the same weekend as my birthday, so...

But THIS year, it was the weekend BEFORE my birthday.  I wanted to make sure to at least check out the parade!

We arrived about 6 blocks from Cheesman Park (where the parade began) and it must have started on time because the parade was as far as you could see both ways on Colfax.



This was one of my favorite groups (natch):






We also saw Mayor (Future Governor) Hickenlooper!  I love him.  The first time I saw him speak, PD&I were at some Valentine's Day rally in Civic Center Park in support of civil unions in Denver.  He said some very thoughtful things (as did Diana DeGette, who was also at the parade) and that's when I decided he's a genuinely good guy.  And that makes him dreamy in my book. 

I took this right after I realized the guy who ran under the giant rainbow flag (much to the delight of said flag holders) was, in fact, the Mayor.  I think that's his son with him.

Greeting his supporters:


Other highlights from the parade included this guy who I SWEAR B and I see EVERYWHERE!!  We think he lives in the Highlands because we've seen him a bunch there, but he's no stranger to Lower Denver, either:















Here is a picture of me with all the schwag I managed to collect.  Except for the Otter pops B snatched up and ate.  It was pretty hot already for 10ish in the morning.


I wondered, once again, what anti-gay rights people might take away from observing a Pride Parade. 

1. The Gays like their dance music.
2. The Gays prefer boxer briefs.
3. The Gays sure have a lot of friends!
4. The Gays support safe sex.
5. Plenty of churches in and around Denver welcome The Gays as members.
6. The Gays sure can throw a parade!

Seriously, what's not to like?!

What the Heck Was Going on in Chicago This Weekend?!

THE SHOOTING CONTINUES


Fire

Red Line Fire Injures 19 People On Near North Side

 

Storms

Chicago Rocked By Storms, 70 MPH Winds Reported

 


Sunday, June 20, 2010

Losing My Soul (almost)

And by soul, I mean iPhone.

A couple of weeks ago, P and I went to Denver to visit J.  We had a blast, which I'm sure we will get to in another post.  This post, however, is about my life changing forever.  Almost.

We arrived Friday afternoon.  J was, of course, late picking us up. We started playing a game where we would point at someone that obviously was not J (some really old lady, some man, etc.) and say, "Here she is!"  While that was amusing, it got old pretty quickly.  So, we started texting J.  She couldn't answer our texts because she was driving, but she did get to hear the dings every time she got one of our several dozen messages.  P and I are fun, aren't we?

We went to Tokyo Joe's which, other than J and our other friends, is one of the things we miss most about Denver.  P and I averaged about one visit per week when we lived on 12th and York.  That probably speaks to the many "puffy" pictures of us from our days in Denver.  I can still order my usual without missing a beat!  Big white chicken bowl with brown rice, vegetables and Oyako sauce.

After TJs, we went to DU.  P bought one of every hat in the bookstore (at one point, he said something like, "I'm going to get a hat everywhere we go."  And he wasn't kidding.) and I got Dad a shirt for Father's Day.  On the way out of the store, J ran into her nemesis -- the one she called in sick to that very morning!  We also dragged J upstairs in University Hall where we all met many years ago.  It was as depressing as I remember it.

Then we made our way to J's house where we met Brian!  I use a "!" because this was the first time P and I were meeting Brian, and he made a VERY good first impression on us.  Which was very much a relief given the last time we met one of J's sig others (the week of her wedding).  But let's not dwell on that right now.  Dave?  If you're reading this, we all hate you.  And Mike, if YOU'RE reading this, I don't care if you've "never hated anyone".  We have and we do.

We all went to The Highlands (tm) that evening, J's favorite place in Denver.  Specifically, we went to Highland Tavern, where we met J's and Brian's friends.  It turned out to be a very fun evening of drinking way too much, and getting to know each other.  P and I had shots for the first time in I-can't-remember-when -- rumplemintz.

Then we went back to The Friends' house only to realize not a one of us was sober enough to drive back to J's.  So, we called a cab.  I've only been in a cab one other time in Denver, back when P and I were first dating, and I drunk dialed him.  And our relationship even made it through that.

When we got back to J's, we also realized that not a one of us had keys to the house.  All of the doors at J's (for once) were locked tight.  Luckily her bedroom window was unlocked.  After frantically detaching the screen from the house and chucking it, we lifted the window and climbed precariously on the glass-topped patio table.  I put my hand on a rusty nail (don't worry, I have a tetanus shot!) and promptly bled all over.  Equally as promptly, I was kicked off the table.  P climbed inside and let us in.

As I was about to fall into bed, I said, "I can't find my iPhone".  And then I fell fast asleep.  Cut to the next morning.  I woke up, sat straight up in bed, and freaked out.  I tried calling the bar and my phone several (hundred) times, to no avail.  I had no idea where I might have left it.  When everyone else woke up, I told them what had happened.  Brian casually mentioned that he had the card for the cabbie from the night before.  Who gets a card from a cabbie?!  I called and left him a voicemail to call me back, explaining that I might have left my phone in the back of the cab.

Back when I bought my iPhone, I was offered the option of purchasing "mobile me".  One of the features of that software would have allowed me to track my phone wherever it was.  Being my mother's son, I'm cheap.  So, I didn't purchase said software.  P managed to find an app that would do the same thing.  We were able to track my phone to within 35 meters of where it was located.  It was in a cab!  We could hearing it ringing inside.

Being the frantic person that I was (and typically am), I immediately knocked on the door of the house the cab was parked in front of.  A tiny woman whose native language was not english answered.  After listening to my probably incoherent story, she said that her husband would be out in five minutes.  He was in the shower.  When the cab driver finally came outside, he didn't act scared at all that we had TRACKED HIM TO HIS HOUSE.  He got my phone out of his locked glove compartment and gave it to me.  He did make a point of saying that he had gotten my message, and that he had planned to call me back.  Apparently he had worked until 3am.  None of us had cash, so I couldn't tip him.  But I did get his card, and I do have his home address, so I will send him something.

I'm really not sure what I would have done if I had not gotten my phone back.  But every single possible scenario was racing through my head as we were racing to that poor cabbie's house.  Including what might happen if it was NOT the cabbie's house when we got to where the phone was.  For the rest of the trip, I was the running joke.  Everyone would look at me every time we left anywhere and say, "Do you have your phone, David?"

I purchased mobile me when I got home, too.

Sit, Fergie, Sit! Good Dog!

In exactly one day this weekend, Fergie learned how to sit!  She will sit without food, but it takes her longer.