In Family News...

Suddenly there's a new player on the team, and I think we're lucky to have him. Not only is he being incredibly positive about it, but it's also extremely cute. Well played.

Meanwhile, we still have George Michael being an embarrassment. You can be a cheap slut all you like, buddy, but don't drag "your culture" down with you. (At least he still has a sparkling future.) Because of the scrutiny gay culture is constantly put under I feel like we all have an added responsibility to fight the stereotypes and prove ourselves as, well... good, moral, normal people. For the record, I actually believe that everyone, gay or otherwise, has that same personal duty, it's a larger issue because the scales are currently weighted against us: it takes more effort to accomplish this goal, and much less to impede it. Each of us, whether we like it or not, is an ambassador to the Land of Gay. That might not be fair, but that's life.

And here I am taking this stand while getting bitchy and linking to faggoty gossip sites... I guess I break even. It's been a difficult night.

George Michael was one of my favorite artists long before either of us came out, which is another reason why that article is so depressing to me. The first thing that came to mind when I heard about it was a song about infidelity from his excellent decade-old album Older, on which he wrote, arranged and produced every track, as well as played almost all of the instruments: MP3 / lyrics. The man is (or was) incredibly talented.

It's been a while now since I got my 2nd tattoo, but I never did post pictures. I got a slightly modified version of this symbol, which I think matches my other both visually and thematically. Here are some vaguely unflattering pictures of the finished product. I'm very happy with it, but #3, whenever it happens, will definitely be larger. Shortly after I got it I saw this article, and it's great to feel like part of a growing community as opposed to a minority, as is the case with so many other things. The first one did seem like something of a rite of passage, too, and both have seemed like steps toward a future version of myself which I can only occasionally catch glimpses of.

On the subject of change, it's always reassuring to have moments that evince personal growth-- and the more surprising its direction, the better. Evan and I have gone camping twice since the last big update, and now I can confidently say that I like to go camping. My parents shipped me off to a handful of summer camps when I was younger, but I was too petulant and overwrought to do anything but make myself (and my cabinmates) absolutely miserable. In late May, though, when we spent a long weekend camping at Rabun Beach Campground, we both had a fantastic time. We made a great campsite, hiked up to Angel Falls, played frisbee and football, made S'mores on the campfire... We even swam in a lake. Why had I never realized before this trip how fun it is to swim in lakes? The second camping adventure at Vogel State Park was longer, but much less eventful: a massive thunderstorm rolled in the night we set up camp and was near-constant for the next three days and nights. Because there was never a chance to dry anything out, we, our towels, tents and everything else became so waterlogged that we had to drive to the gift shop and buy more towels. The icing on the cake, though, was the tarp over our tent. Every fifteen minutes or so, it dumped the rain it had pooled into the mud at the corner of the tent where my head lay, producing a long, loud, wet farting noise: Phbbbbbbbbt. This went on day and night through the entire trip. Phbbbbbbbbt. Even at the time, it was miserable and ridiculous enough to be marginally funny. The trip was something of a wash (no pun intended), but the experience was still valuable. However subtle the shift may be, I have a different view of myself because of it.

Whoo, that's some pretty hardcore navel-gazing right there, ain't it? Phbbbbbbbbt. I promise that not everything that's happened lately is about me. Probably the biggest event, in fact, was not. Two friends from UGA, Jennifer and Amish, got married on July 1st in the UGA Chapel. It was the first wedding of my adult life, and while I was unsure what to expect, it was actually a great time, and genuinely moving. Really, though, getting to celebrate a special occasion with close friends I haven't seen in years-- how couldn't it have been? Rachel also held the bachelorette party at my place while I stayed with Evan, and I think spending a night in a small apartment with over twenty partying women had to be the most exciting event in Pharaoh's life in a very long while. (During the quick peek I got, he was stretched out on the living room table soaking up the attention.) There are some pictures from the reception, but Jen has since kidnapped them to Argentina. More on this as it unfolds.

The next ten days or so are slated to be ridiculously busy at work as hoardes of students arrive to move into their apartments and, in doing so, herald the end of summer and quiet in Athens. Hopefully I'll find a way before then to send this summer off on a fittingly high note.

We had an awful storm on July 4th that knocked out our power with a clap of thunder. When I turned my computer back on, WinXP suddenly informed me that a network cable was unplugged. Tried other cables; same problem. Got a new modem from Charter; no help. Last night I finally buckled and bought a new ethernet card (down to $20 these days) and now I'm online again-- except that WinXP still reports that a network cable is unplugged and refuses to believe otherwise. I'm officially done with Windows. My next computer, desktop or laptop or whatever it may be, is going to be a Mac.