MUSIC: "They-Say Vision" by Res

[I've been tired of podcasts and "today's music", so I've been going back into the archives and pulling out some stuff from college and my early months of Florida. One of my favorite favorites is this song, "They-Say Vision" by Res. Her album "How I Do" is Solid. I appreciate the song's message of wanting to give up and just subscribe to everyone else's point-of-view. That was much of my mindset through college, though with my growth and perspective today, perhaps I'm providing a vision for others to subscribe to.] [wiki]

"They-Say Vision"
by Res
Lyrics:

I wanna try that pill that people take
Make you believe all the things that people say
Sick of shuckin' 'round with a screwed up face
With my heels dug in trying to leave a trace
Now come on put me down somehow
How you lose your faith
(just take my hand and lead me where you wanna)

[Chorus:]
Pay no more mind to what you think you've seen
It's as they do only
Say what they say
'Cause there's only one way
They-Say Vision
It takes you back to just where you want
Like when you ain't know no way

Industry's down think I've died and I've flown away
So so long to them thieves who came and took all the things to say
I play the joker sometimes but then those moments slide back my way
'Cause for real I'd give my soul away
Give it all away
(so take my hand and lead me where you wanna)

[Chorus]

I know where they all go find someplace
Where they don't mind loafing about the waste

They-Say Vision takes you back to where no conscience
Free from how you really see

And if you think that you know
Take the back road
They got you where they want
They got you

GYM: Points Galore

the sky looked artful this evening
It's Wednesday which means two things: Toastmasters and volleyball. And today, one was good and the other not too good. There were needed breaks realized and a mystery solved. But which one's which and what is wherE?
...
Toastmasters
Okay, Toastmasters was the not-too-good one. And because so, I won't spend many words on it. There were just a lot of assumptions in setting up the meeting that just didn't pan out -- and I ended up rushing to get things together. It would've been seamless if I had five more minutes and also not had a full travel mug of coffee right beforehand. Luckily, we didn't have to twist people's arms too hard to fill in quite a number of big roles at today's meeting.

The speeches and evaluations were all good. It was just the table topics that bothered me. The theme was our president, and immediately I started to cringe. I really don't like politics being introduced at the meetings because it turns into hate-talk, and it's like having to listen to someone bad-mouth your mother and not being able to say anything in defense. Frankly it was very disheartening.

It took me a while to recover from the meeting, but at least there's a couple weeks before our next meeting, and I'm signed up to speak. I'll be keeping it light-hearted and universal.

Anyways,...

Volleyball
I can always count on volleyball to lift my spirits. Tonight, there were 24+ people there to begin with, and it stayed that way well past the first hour. This time, it was very fine because everyone there was amazingly chill -- and the newbies were of the HS volleyball girls variety, so none of the off-putting machismo demonstrated on Monday. I do have to say that there were really no weak links tonight, and the level of play was well above average.

Because of the numbers, we played points and teams for most of the session. Susan, Cara, Mike, Greg, me, and a rotating sixth person made up one team, and we did pretty awesome (even though scoring didn't really mattered). Communication on our side was good, and it was like everyone had their own specialty -- setting, spiking, serving, chasing,... plus we were all quite consistent.

I did well with the chasing, and my ups were visibly-improved. My serving was consistent, and my play at the net was cooler than Monday (no fantastic spike today but a lot of good knockdowns). The most fun point for me was when I was center and knocked the ball down on the completely wrong direction -- a hybrid of a spike and a pass; luckily Cara and Susan were paying attention and managed to put it back over the net.

With fifteen minutes to go, we were down to fifteen people and dropped points, rotating people in. I didn't so much mind the point-taking tonight. I would've also been perfectly happy just hanging out on the sidelines. Oh, about the mystery guy... we have a mutual friend and a little more than a year-and-a-half ago, we were at this friend's house for an Equality Florida fund-raiser dinner... small world, and in the good way.

Anyways, that was today. Now it's again past my bedtime. I'm getting a crown tomorrow morning... hopefully, I'll wake up in time for it. G'night.

In the meantime, here are tonight's post-gym pics:

MUSIC: "Stay" (House Mix) by Bravehound

Tonight, I was surfing the Internets, visiting some blogs I haven't been to in a while -- one of them being Bravehound.com.

I really don't know how I came to find this blog in the first place, but looking at the picture below, you could probably guess why I would go back.

Anyways, Bravehound is the website of one Andrew McDonald. A couple minutes there, and you would see see that his interests include gay pop culture, the latest technologies, and music.

Although his looks and his enthusiasm for the newest gadgets are beyond me (and really blow my mind), I do find it comforting that 1] we're fellow gays, and 2] we both like taking a lot of pictures of ourselves.

:)

I'm giving him this somewhat lengthy shout-out because I totally pulled code from his site and posting it below. It's of his latest house mix, which is incredibly good, and otherwise, my presentation wouldn't've given him justice (though I'm not sure how much justice I'm giving him below... [wait, that didn't sound right]).

Anyways, check out the music below -- it'll raise your energy -- and stop by his website for a look-around.

Enjoy!

    bravehound - stay.mp3
(to download, right-click and choose save.  Apple users control-click and choose download.)

MUSIC: "Song Beneath The Song" by Maria Taylor

The song below is from the Grey's Anatomy Vol. 1 OST that came out a few years ago. I was listening to it on the way home from work late yesterday. It was a dark drive home, and the song reminded me of a time ago when my little sister had come down for a visit during Spring Break.

It was late that evening, and my sister and I were checking-in at the Pop Century Resort. I can remember it. It was our first visit there, and we were engulfed in our surrounding and very excited. I was in a particularly attractive mood, and I found myself in a mile flirtation with the guy behind the front desk - his name was Gary.

After my sister and I had our room keys, I was still reeling with giddiness, and she told me that I should go back and ask him out on a date or else she'll do it for me. Well, neither one of us did, but this song reminds me of the sense of excitement, innocence, and wonder of that evening.

-----

"Song Beneath The Song"
by Maria Taylor

Lyrics:

Cryptic words meander
Now there is a song beneath the song
One day you'll learn
You'll soon discern its true meaning
An interesting detachment
A listless poem of love sincere
Desire, despair
Overlapping melodies

And it's not a love, it's not a love
It's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song

Oh now the roots are reminiscing
Recurring dreams of minor chords
Metred time
Muted chimes find the beat

And in the pulse there lies conviction
A steady push and pull routine
The cymbals swell
High notes flail into reach

And it's not a love, it's not a love
It's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song

It's not a love, it's not a love,
It's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song
It's not a love, it's not a love, it's not a love song

JOURNAL: It's Monday Again

[This entry is ATF.]

It's Monday again, that it's back to work... a five-day week. I'm starting to feel a little d&t, but that appears to be on a consistent bi-monthly occurrence. It's more pronounced today because of moments highlighting office politics, and that's the type of stuff that quickly wears on me.

I think back on the weekend, and it feels like I'm living a double life, and that come Monday, a switch is flipped and that I should be back on track.

I am, for the most part, but I also realize that I have to allow for more separation of this meeting of personal and professional life and attitudes.

Before I came out to my parents, I did a lot of reading as to how to go about it and what to be careful of. One of the points was that by coming out, some parents see it as their child telling them that they're someone completely different than how they've been led to think. So one of the things I did was, whenever I'd come home from college, I would just be me. If I was happy, I was happy. If I was sad, I was sad. If I was angry, I was angry. And if I was tired, I was tired.

Simple. But the point was, I wanted them to know who I was.

And when finally did tell my parents that I was gay, they knew. And it was easy. They weren't blind-sided, and they were very supportive.

Today, at work, I'm living half-way in the world of the past. And Although I know that no one in the office would have a problem with me if I came out, I still feel a little bit of that apprehension for the fact that I can't (read: shouldn't)really be myself in the sense that would be familiar to my experience with my parents. The office is a professional world, and I need to find another route to my initiation there.

I have come out to a few people there, but the venue's just not one where I don't feel would be appropriate, though the heterosexual banter is everyday matter. And I feel like I have to retreat to a "non-passionate" attitude there.

This is me and the jungle I'm trekking.
-----
Anyways, really didn't mean to jump into a ramble. It just feels good to look and listen within, and I hope that it made sense.

TELEVISION: MacGyver episodes at CBS.com!!!

OMG, after watching the latest online episode of Big Brother (of which this season is Scandalous!), I looked at the list of other shows they're offering Full Episodes of, and I saw MACGYVER! I used to watch this show crazy mad (seriously, I tantrum-ed for it when I was younger). Anyways, maybe it was the adventure, maybe it was the science, maybe it was a childhood crush on Richard Dean Anderson...

Anyways, currently CBS.com has all 22 episodes from Season One available for watch. On my next Melbourne Weekend, I'll probably stream these. Anyways, here's the MacGyver S1 Intro:

JOURNAL: #2!

I'm currently #2 for a google search of "Festival of the Masters Sidewalk Chalk Art".

Here's are the links to my posts of the event:
    Overview
    Sidewalk Chalk
    Lego Sculptures
    Art
    Hands On

:)

MUSIC: "Honey and the Moon" by Joseph Arthur

This is one of my absolute favorite songs and the song I'd imagine having my first dance with when I get "married".

I found this video on YouTube. It has the following description:

"Amazing video when you consider that all of the footage used is over 50 years old. It's a tribute to my parent's love that has lasted over 60 years."
Beautiful beautiful.

Video clip:


-----
"Honey and the Moon" by Joseph Arthur

Don't know why I'm still afraid
If you weren't real I would make you up
now
I wish that I could follow through
I know that your love is true
and deep
as the sea
but right now
everything you want is wrong,
and right now
all your dreams are waking up,
and right now
I wish I could follow you
to the shores
of freedom,
where no one lives.

Remember when we first met
and everything was still a bet
in love's game
you would call; I'd call you back
and then I'd leave
a message
on your answering
machine

But right now
everything is turning blue,
and right now
the sun is trying to kill the moon,
and right now
I wish I could follow you
to the shores
of freedom,
where no one lives

Freedom
run away tonight
freedom, freedom
run away
run away tonight

We're made out of blood and rust
looking for someone to trust
without
a fight
I think that you came too soon
you're the honey and the moon
that lights
up my night


But right now
everything you want is wrong,
and right now
all your dreams are waking up,
and right now
I wish that I could follow you
to the shores
of freedom
where no one lives

freedom
run away tonight
freedom freedom
run away
run away tonight

we got too much time to kill
like pigeons on my windowsill
we hang around

ever since I've been with you
you hold me up
all the time I'm falling down

But right now
everything is turning blue,
and right now
the sun is trying to kill the moon,
and right now
i wish i could follow you
to the shores
of freedom
where no one lives

freedom
run away tonight
freedom freedom
run away
run away tonight

NOSTALGIA: Other Things I Can Do Well...

I was cleaning my bedroom and underneath my bed was a box. And in that box were papers from school back when I lived in South Carolina. The one that I immediately looked for, I found.
I am most proud of what I wrote for "Other things I can do well":

I'm special.