Check out this story for a dose of serious reality.-

This article marks the first place I’ve seen the phrase “the Noughties” – which I fear will become the phrase for this decade. I mean, it makes sense, but the double meaning is still kind of annoying.

Another point of interest, and one I’m going to focus on (although mostly unrelated to Dubai specifically) is this description of young male life in Saudi Arabia:

In Saudi, it’s hard to be straight when you’re young. The women are shut away so everyone has gay sex. But they only want to have sex with boys – 15- to 21-year-olds. I’m 27, so I’m too old now. I need to find real gays, so this is the best place. All Arab gays want to live in Dubai.

I recall seeing a documentary on sexuality abroad at some point, that mentioned this point.  I’ve talked about it with people and had them look at me like I was crazy.  But, come on people – this makes perfect sense.  Humans are sexual (especially young boys!!!) – deny them girls, and what happens (see: prison)?

I think the same documentary mentioned that something similar happens in India – basically it’s very common for young boys to have sex with other young boys – but this is “just sex”, and it’s very unmanly to have actual romantic feelings toward these boys..or something like that.  So it’s something you do up until you have access to a woman – marriage – although sometimes it continues discreetly after that (I imagine if you’re used to the same lover for 6-8 years it may be hard to give that up….).

I’ve always found this whole “I’ll fuck a dude when I need it, but I’m not gay!” dichotomy amazing.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe that they aren’t technically gay (as in romantically attracted to men) – but come on man, wtf?  Because, for a lot of people on the outside – it seems to be the sex that really defines gays and makes them so damn scary (some religions allow gays so long as they aren’t “succumbing to their darker nature” and whatnot).

I think that this shows that it’s not so much the sex (especially with a decent # of straight folks trying the back door loving these days…) – but somehow the thought of a man loving another man that is making folks feel threatenend and emasculated.  I really don’t get it.  Is it that one of them has to be some kind of subordinate and men just aren’t supposed to be submissive?  Is that it?  Is the whole thing a wizard of Oz curtain to distract us from the fact that they are deathly afraid of emotional non-dominant males?  Of female empowerment?????  That reminds me of this great essay I read on homophobia as a form of anti-female sexism.  Thought provoking stuff.  But I can’t find the damn link!  This is like it, but not as good.

Many times I can understand where someone is coming from, even if I completely disagree.  But this I just can’t empathize with – I cannot get myself spun around and looking out those eyes (not that I really want to – I’m just saying there’s usually some piece of insane logic I can base a convincing madman’s argument on, but I don’t see it here).  I’m not threatened by you loving or fucking anyone.  You know, within the standard bounds of not being a molester, etc.  But some people are.  And care enough to get wound up and protest against GLBT stuff.

So – more food to chew on: radical Islamists may have more (technically) gay sex per capita than the population of San Franscisco.

Man, that’s a piece of why they are so fucked up isn’t it?  The ones that really are gay can’t express their love without being put to death, and another big chunk of them wan’t sex so bad they’ll have sex with men they aren’t even attracted to.

I wonder if this is somehow less sinful than masturbation?  Because, you know, there is that.

As of today (27th) the new releases page on their website is still a week behind – not very useful!

In other news, some drunk drove his car into the front of their store Friday night.  Ouch.

Anyway, back to work & off to listen to the new album.

My back is feeling a lot better…I think thanks at least in part to “cupping” (seriously).  OK, it was nowhere near that cool – but it was the same principle.  Little metal cup, air gets sucked out of it, sucking blood up to the surface of your back.  Or whatever.  Afterwards your back looks nice and bruised, like so:

He warned me that it would probably hurt more for a day or so, but it didn’t, and within 24 hours I’d started to feel noticeably better.  I think that night was the last night I needed the Vicodin to help me sleep.  Yay!

Z continues to be a precious little brat.  He really likes grunting over and over for things, even when he knows the words, and he’s working on his mad tantrum skilz.

Baby #2 is almost here!!  Less than 2 months!  I think we’re all covered/prepared, but you never know *cues Jaws music*.

Hopefully at least the new baby will bring lots of visitors !

We drove up to Olympia (capital of Washington bitches!) yesterday for kicks.  Ok, ostensibly it was so I could get a feel for the area because I may include it in the book I’m working on…but we really needed to get out of the house.  Lucky for us it rained almost the whole way home!  And it was pitch dark at 5pm!! Yay!   It seems like a pretty decent town – although I did find it odd that all the burger joints (that we could find) were “huts”.  Literally.  Most of them didn’t even have places to sit.  We stopped at one that supposedly won best burger in the state in somesuch competition and the burgers were good, but totally not worth $10.  I don’t think any burger (with fries) is worth ten dollars (maybe with fries AND a drink!), but hey, we were really hungry and had a burger craving.

And tonight I started (hopefully – by that I mean hopefully I’ve started a process that continues) running again.  The crazy thing is..it’s probably been around 2 years since I ran last and I made it over a mile and half without stopping.  Yeah yeah I know that’s nothing.  Whatever, fuck you – it’s a lot for me! :).  I think I was barely up to running (I should specify that my use of “running” here is probably closer to what a runner would call “jogging”) a mile before I stopped last time – and that was after semi regular runs for several months.

And the beat goes on.

The pictures with less snow are from yesterday, when it was just getting started.  We don’t have as many from today because it’s hard to get out there & get around…Jen just took the trash out (down the back stairs), and that was a mini-adventure.  She did get to break in her new snow boots though.  I really need a pair of boots too…I just hate buying things I’ll only use 2 weeks out of the year.

The pictures don’t really do it justice…there were at least 6 inches stacked just on each of our back stairs – not a lot for some people I know, but a lot for us.

PS: I’m glad we have a garage.

Hopefully it clears up enough tomorrow for Jen to get to work safely.

When we bought this one, the inspectors found a problem with the main sewer line – ratholes and the like (Portland is evidently overrun with sewer rats).  So the sellers paid for the repair of course BUT we had to wait potentially 6 months to get the repairs actually done, due to the city not releasing permits because we are on a party line with the neighbors and other fun stuff.

So yeah.  The main line is backing up now, funky water oozing up out of the basement whenever we use more than a trickle. All our spare towels are wet and nasty and we can’t clean them because that would back it up even farther…neverminding that we have to take minimal showers/baths and, you know, other fun stuff.

The guy came out and took a look just now, and he said hopefully they can get it cleaned out BUT if they can’t we are stuck waiting for the city permit!

FUN.

I saw this dude (who had rather creepy posture) while I was waiting for the bus the other day.  I didn’t get a chance to see his sign – I really wish I had.  I wonder if it says something like “Need $$: lost/stolen bike!”  Oh, and don’t forget the “God bless!” at the end!

So yeah…why was he hiding his bike??

My other image is a response of sorts to Josh’s post:

Maybe just in the sense of “it’s everywhere!” or something.  So yeah, I pass this house whenever I walk to/from the bus and always wondered what the hell was up with it.  At one point the Confederate flag came down for a while and was replaced by a pirate flag, but it eventually went back up.

Also, you can’t see it very well, but there is some kind of design (some kind of blue square or orb or something) in the center of the flag – does anyone know what that means?

]]> http://onefinemess.rhinopanda.net/2008/10/08/2-pictures-from-my-phone/feed/ 6 http://onefinemess.rhinopanda.net/2008/09/15/maui-day-5/ http://onefinemess.rhinopanda.net/2008/09/15/maui-day-5/#comments Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:19:07 +0000 onefinemess http://onefinemess.wordpress.com/?p=512 Fun thing you can do on vacation: spend almost 2 hours getting your son to stay asleep, as opposed to home when you would have dropped him off in his crib 100 minutes ago and been done with it.

Currently I’m drinking: vodka, ice, water, kahlua with a ritz cracker (yes, in the glass).  It’s not horrible.  I’ am currently listening to a recording of a Mitch Hedberg show I downloaded from some memorial site.  I can’t hear half of what he is saying over the laughter :(.

Today we drove out to Makawao, which I think we both agreed was our favorite place so far and, if we ever move out here, we’d like to live somewhere more in this area than the others we visited.

Z had his first Jamba Juice to day (a tiny Strawberry Surfrider with no boosts.  He was very attached to it, and adorable (yes, he has figured out straws!) in his newfound greediness).

We also went to the beach this morning, but we didn’t say for very long (1-2 hours) because Z threw a fit.  He’s evidently not a big fan of either sand or water, nor their confluence.  Jen & I both got to take in some snorkeling & swimming.  When we returned, my hair was disgustingly matted, like a homeless person perhaps.

The cracker, still whole, was decent.

Trying to remember what we did yesterday…everything is so hazy.  I believe that we got up in the morning & went swimming – J & Z in the pool and I went snorkeling a bit in the bay/cove just outside our hotel. Giant sea turtles.  Many.  As in, I could have touched one about as big as myself (but certainly heavier) – but it’s a good thing I didn’t because evidently there is a $25,000 fine just for touching them.  Wow.  Anyway…wow its trippy to be that close to something that large and have it be totally oblivious to you.

Then…uh…after that…I don’t remember.  At some point we stopped by the local Barnes & Noble & Jen grabbed some books.  Then a stop to the local Radio Shack, which had a large van outside with 13 (the driver’s info, not mine!) “drunk” temporary workers (I’m guessing temporary because they had been to Hawaii for work before, and wouldn’t be here permanently this time either) ALL of them (or several at least) waiting for cell phones.  Each phone taking like 10-20 mins to set up.  So…yeah, I gave up eventually and left.  Unfortunately the other worker – a thin fellow with one short arm (possibly missing an elbow and entire joint) with all the nails on it grown out very long wasn’t able to help me either because he was stuck on a phone talking to tech support for someone else’s cell phone.  Yeah…so it’s bullshit that everywhere sells cell phone crap now.  Luckily, I remembered that there was an OfficeMax back by B&N, so we went back and I got what I needed for half the price.

We went swimming at the beach after that, and Z got a little more time in the water than he had the time before.  Then uh…Jen made some Costco meat & potatoes that was very good.

Today…today we relaxed a bit, made some sandwiches and then went to the local aquarium.  They had some neat stuff there – sea turtles (much smaller than the local wild ones) & hammerheads that you could see from up pretty close, among other things.  Then eventually we wound up eating at a 50s themed diner type thing in Lahaina.  It was ok.

And, now, imagery, click for larger versions.:

it's the grapes

Jen & the giant tree

Dad & Z, and hats

One size fits all.

Mother and son at the beach

landings

aquarium, in blue

That all being said, vacationing with a toddler is hard work.  I’m not sure if “vacation” is quite the right word.  I wonder if he’ll remember any of it?  At least we’ve got pictures!

What to say and do, what to say and do.

Radio stations.  Observations:

• There are at least 11 radio stations for ~141,000 people (+tourists)?  That’s crazy.
• Also, many of these radio stations play strange, but often good, covers of semi-popular songs (Elvis Costello: Every Day I Write the Book) to background songs (Pearl Jam: Black) by what I assume must be local bands, because they are nothing I’ve ever heard before.  Or maybe I’m just that out of the current music loop?
• Most, if not all, of the radio stations gyrate wildly between stuff you recognize, stuff you kind of recognize (like the covers above) and stuff in what I think is the Hawaiian language (I thought it was supposed to be a dying language??? Certainly doesn’t seem that way…oh wait, Google tells me that it has had a pretty successful re-introduction.  Very interesting….) that you do not recognize, but often sounds pretty good.
• They are apparently pretty into reggae.  The reggae station (which it claims to be) is pretty good when it’s playing reggae (sometimes it’s not). I heard a Marley song I haven’t heard before – which is not surprising considering local stations (Portland) only play 2 songs (sad, but I can’t remember which 2 right now…they are off Legend, certainly), and I only have Legend.  The local/stuff I’ve never heard of has been fairly decent too.

We spent a chunk of change on clothes…..mostly for things on sale & swimwear (which sadly we may not get to use again oh, until we make it back to Maui or another island!).  I did get a hat that wasn’t on sale, but apparently at a pretty good price, and one of those weird, stretchy swim shirts which is really cool.  I recommend them without being able to properly articulate why.  But yeah..no more clothes!  Hopefully.

We “did” Front Street in Lahaina. I should probably specify that it is nowhere near Jump Street.

<crickets chirping>

So yeah we walked up and down what is the big tourist trap type strip for Western Maui.  It was amazingly sparsley occupied.  We were the only people in the local Coldstones, where we talked to the owners for a bit – they just bought the place about a year ago and moved from LA (we could tell they weren’t local when they never said “Aloha” or “Mahalo”…these words are ubiquitous in a nice way).  Anyway, they were really nice, but it was crazy that we were the only ones in there.  The rest of the strip was a little thicker – most places had 1 or 2 people besides us, but not all.  We happened upon the Maui branch of that company that Bethany works for, and chatted with the hostess/salesperson for a bit before purchasing a book for Z.  All the while horribly badmouthing Bethany of course.

The giant Banyan tree thing is pretty awesome too.  There was some interesting “local color” there as well.  A woman who I think was the local flavor of crack/meth/head and some other cheerful oddities.  But the tree thing is cool.

Sorry, no pics to post yet but I’ve been reading our camera’s instruction manual tonight, trying to find out what a setting I found on accident does (turns out it takes bitching night photos if you can hold it steady for 10-15s), and stumbled across another really cool/amusing/not very useful thing – it will swap all of one color with all of another.  So, moral of the story: read the manual, eventually!

So after Front Street we came back, hit the pool, listened to some drunk guys play a game kind of like I spy for adults (you are right, there is no such thing – form your own opinion from there).  This was Z’s first time in a pool and I think he really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, it didn’t have a really shallow part, so we couldn’t let him walk around.  A while later we headed over to Napili beach (and that’s about as many people as were there too – September is seriously the right time to vacation here) and Z had his first play in the ocean time.  It scared him, and I think it was a little too cold for him at that point in the day, because he wound up shivering.  In the beginning it was precious though watching him watch his feet in the sand as the tide rushed in and out.

I think we’re going to rent a snorkel set in the morning and do some alternating snorkeling…did I mention the giant sea turtles swim around literally right in front of our deck?  Some drunk guys in the pool mentioned one surfacing between them the other day.

I know, I should be writing something besides a blog right?  I think perhaps I’ll just go to sleep….J & Z are already there.

BUT IT’S SO NICE AND WARM!