Gobble, Gobble

Hey Party-Peoples -

I couldn't let the tryptophan-induced holiday (<-- link) go by without a quick hello. I'm up AWFULLY early as I'm going to bang out a easy little 21-miler this a.m. with my buddy JT. You can read all about it on my training blog LET'S RIDE, CLYDE (<-- link).

But I'm staying in town, hanging out with my extended family of homos... the brother, his partner, the partner's lezzy sis, her lezzy lover (who also happens to be the same JT mentioned above and my cycling buddy/guru/mentor of sorts), and my other newest cycle buddy, Jerry Seinfeld (sorry - inside joke).

The new job has calmed down a bit - thankfully. Of course, I don't know that it could have gotten much busier.... good grief.

Things with the guy continue to progress nicely. He's an awesome fella and we have amazing chemistry. I'm having some primo moments with him and they feel right. Let's leave it at that.

Oh yeah - and if you come across the Packers @ Detroit on Thursday (on Fox, 11:30am Central), give a shout for Brett and the boys. :)

And just one more thing - I guarantee if you think about it - you are FAR more fortunate than most. I know I am. Sure, I could stand to lose 20 pounds. Sure, things might be a little more fun for me if my rent weren't so steep. Sure, a lot of little things have some wiggle room for improvement. But I have a beautiful family, world-class friends, a good job, a roof over my head, an awesome dog and cat to care for, my health, a promising new guy and hey - we've all got each other.

So how's a bout stopping a minute, and giving your sincere gratitude into the universe, or to God, or to whomever you want. But give it.

XOXO
GBoogie

hey now...

So I've been a little quiet on this front. Truth be told, all things are really going well. But my new job, which I like quite a lot, just happens to be on a much higher pace. I did ALL of my posting before from my old job at the Big 4 accounting firm. Boy was life easy then!

At any rate, I thought I would check in and give an update.

I've been having some really good fortune lately. Or I guess if you look at it another way, I am coming into my own and am getting some of the good stuff I deserve. =)

Work is going well, my training for ALC7 is going well and I've met someone that I am getting to know a little better to see what potential lies ahead for us.

No worries, just not a lot of time to post and most of you who are my friends I manage to keep up with you day in and day out on IM.

I'll try to be better about posting - but be well!!

i can't take it...

So C got home to Rome from Sardegna this weekend. And he sends me pictures. It hadn't dawned on me until I opened this picture that I'd never seen him clean-shaven. YIPES. He literally takes my breath away. =)



But then he is also ravishing with a beard and being silly on the beach



"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

oh and another thing?

Everyone has been telling me how long it was going to take to get my passport... I applied in person at the Rincon SF, CA post office on Thursday, 8/23 at 2pm PDT. I was advised since I paid for expediting that I would receive my passport on or around 9/22. I paid to expedite because without, turn around time is 10-12 weeks and that could possibly preclude me from being able to travel on Thanksgiving. You know, just in case I have an international destination for that week....I'm just taking precautions. ;) So suffice it to say that the arrival of this yesterday (yes, only 8 days after I applied, thank you very much): makes planning to go HERE: that much easier! But it also begins to make this seem like a bit of a need as well:


You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

It's gonna be a bit...

Hey bitches!! Just wanted to let you know that it may be a week or so before I post anything substantial (other than some fun humorous items). Having just started a new job and trying to manage three different time zones now across the world between my brother, my east coast peeps and the italian, life is pretty interesting.

Thank God softball has officially ended. It ended up being one of the highlights of my year but I am also quite glad to get my weekends "back".

But, before I sign off... I should tell you that at a softball tourney this weekend, I had my personal season highlight. In softball, the length of time a game is allowed to go is limited. If time is called but it is the top of a new inning, the inning must be completed so that both teams have the same number of opportunities for at-bats.

So picture this... time had been called in the top of an inning when we were playing defense. So we would get our final at-bat as a team in the bottom of that inning. When we went to bat, we were down 11-9. We scored 2 runs to tie at 11-11. When yours truly takes the batter's box, we already have two outs... and for the tourney, it was a 1-1 rule: every batter starts out with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike.

I took a ball.
I took a strike.

So now my count is 2-2, the score is tied and my team has two outs. FUCK!

The pitch comes and I knock the HELL outta that ball for a good solid line drive single. But that was all we needed - it was enough for my teammate Horacio who was on Third base to make it home... giving us the run we needed to WIN the damn game.

yeah.... I rule! ;0)

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

Yes, go ahead caller. I'm listening...

So with this past weekend's events, I've been left a little shaken AND stirred in a lot of different ways. And all of them good. I truly believe any experience that causes you to think and learn is a good one. And I'm surely thinking and learning about myself the past few days, yessirreebob.

I had a friend (B) over last night. He and I had been dating for a couple of months but I recently decided we were better suited to be friends. He wanted to take me out to congratulate me on my new job but I had so many around-the-house chores to take care of that I asked if we could order in and catch up while I did laundry and putzed around. Being out of it last weekend, gone this coming one at a softball tournament and then starting the new job on Tuesday, life is piling up all around me... YIPES!

But, as usual, I digress...

So I told B about Carmelo and the whole weekend...in great detail as I have with a few of you (Bunky, Dminmem, BigSir, Stack, Rev. Brown, etc. Syn and Moby, I owe you a deep-dive (heh....that's funny) so you'll get yours in the end (I kill me!)). He was a bit taken aback and amazed but also a little jealous. And of course, he agreed like everyone has how fucking cute C is. Because he is. I mean, sure, I'm biased a teensy bit, but... whatever.

And we talked about the emotional pitfalls of a situation like this. And he made the same very valid points everyone makes. I get them. But me and a friend were talking yesterday and I repeated a question to him that I've posed to most of you about this and then he quite clearly made a wonderful point as to why that question carries validity.

The situation is that me and Carmelo live a GREAT distance apart. Very true. The odds of this "working out" (whether that means a torrid global love affair for a few months/visits or even something greater) are not stacked in our favor. BUT, the question is, "why not?" Just because he lives in Italy and I am in the US, "why can't it happen?" I'm not saying it will, but why do we have to accept that the current geographical circumstance will be the permanent one?

So then the point is made to me yesterday in a conversation with my friend Auntie P as to why this question becomes valid. I live in a major metropolitan city which is definitely skewed in my favor with the concentration of gay men who also live here. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a fag. Seriously. And here is where I may lose you based upon your philosophy of love and "the one". I am not entirely sure how I feel about "the one" concept. I think likely there are two, maybe three people in the world living at this time that are BEST suited to be my partner in life. I think what makes one of them become "the one" are things like chance, timing, location, attraction, etc. Factors... But given all that chance I do think the universe pushes us in directions, helps to guide us in the right direction. Sometimes it is quite subtle (or maybe we just aren't listening) and sometimes it is as subtle as a bull in a china shop. All this said, just because I'm in a large gay area, why does that mean that one of these two to three people is living here in San Francisco at this very moment and that I will meet him? Sure, the odds are better that I find someone to share my life with here as opposed if I were living back in Alabama. But do you take the bet just because the odds go from 1,000,000:1 to 500,000:1? True, your odds just doubled but, as my ex used to say, "the odds are good, but the goods are odd."

So who is to say that one of those few people doesn't right now live in Rome and at this very moment is not vacationing beach-side in the Milazzo area of Sicily, telling his sister all about me and our adventure thus far? Who's to say that the universe didn't push me into that random bar that I NEVER go in last Thursday? Who's to say it didn't also push him into that same bar (which is decidedly NOT a tourist attraction bar!) a mere few hours after he put foot on SF soil for the first time in his life so that we could meet? Who's to say I'm not listening?

All I can really say is that I for one am tired of asking "why". It's about time I start asking "why not?"

To those of you who have voiced some concern over my being careful with my emotions in this situation - I do appreciate it. But just know that although this all does sound very Nora Ephron-esque, I am listening VERY intently. This situation could be about me finding my life partner or it could be about mending and teaching my heart. But in the end, whether I take an Italian lover or I walk away having learned something about myself that I didn't know before...and I walk away with a heart more open and more capable of true love than it ever has been before, do I really lose?


"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

ALC7, BITCHES!

Start your "Support Gina" piggy bank now, bitches... is all I'm sayin'.

because now THIS is happening:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

the emancipation of gina

It's hard to believe that it has already been one year (today!) since I ended my almost five-year relationship and embarked upon changing my life into what I want it to be.

One year later, where and what am I?

-living in kick-ass San Francisco (West Coast RULES!)
-still chillin' with my girls Lucy and Charlie
-missing my Right peeps, but diggin' my new Left ones
-volunteering
-softballing
-funner
-funnier
-self-confident
-still clean
-smokeless (one year 10/2/07 y'all)
-NOT sober (hey, I get to keep one vice!)
-HAPPY
-ready for __________

What a difference a year makes!

One love, 0ne Gina, 0ne Boogie...
XOXO


"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

being recognized

So my big gigantic employer recently awarded all 40K+ US employees with 4 extra days of personal time off in appreciation for good performance in our most recently closed fiscal year. YAY US!

They asked us to submit photos of what we did with our extra time off - so I submitted a few photos from my ALC6 experience and they chose one... see below!

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

late to the busstop

but then again - what's new?

Ok - I JUST saw this. Yeah, I'm sure everyone else and their goddamned grandmother have already seen it... but it was fun.

Can I be Yook Sin Lee in that scene where her husband is boning her in the opening? He's yummy and has a really nice piece. Too bad she couldn't get her piche off...

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

pride

So I was curious. So I opened PowerPoint - you know, the Microsoft Office product. I chose : Edit / Insert / Picture / From ClipArt. Then, in the search term field, I entered "gay".

/ENTER

Here's a sampling of what I got:

But I happen to think THIS (<-- link) is WAY MORE GAY.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

Save Myself

One of my teammates on ALC6 and one of my new friends, Terry, made a Ride compilation of songs and sent it to each of us who wanted one. The songs are ones we heard on the bus or that Terry overheard people singing in camp or just ones that evoke some of the beauty of human spirit that the ride builds and shines.

I still get so overwhelmed when I think about my experience and as I write this post, I'm bawling my eyes out. I truly wish everyone could experience the joy and compassion I did. If you could your life would be forever changed. But the awesome thing is that you can. Get up, get out and go volunteer. Find the light that is within all of us and then shine it on all you meet.
But I digress (as usual)... So the whole reason I wanted to post is to share the lyrics of my favorite song from Terry's CD - "Save Myself" by LeAnn Rimes. This is how I feel about my life. I hope it is a sentiment and philosophy you can relate to.

I want the truth when the world is lying
I want to live or at least die trying
I want to share my soul cause it heals me every time
I want to scream when there's fear inside
I want to run when I gotta free ride
I want to shed my skin if I feel the urge to fly
I will fall on my face too bruised and broken

To save myself I don't want to save myself
I just want to live out loud feel the rush that's all around
I light the flames to feel the burn trouble everywhere I turn
there's freedom in the lessons learned and beauty when the loves returned

I want to breathe like it's my first breath
I want to bleed when I'm put to the test
I want to dig down deep and find out who I am
and I will love like a love lost too scared and open to

Save myself I don't want to save myself
I just want to live out loud feel the rush that's all around
I lite the flames to feel the burn trouble everywhere I turn
there's freedom in the lessons learned and beauty when the loves returned


"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

Rough Rider

Yep - that's me, waiting to get my ATV to rip-ass around the Pismo Dunes yesterday. It was CRAZY amounts of fun. I almost launched over the handlebars about 4 times. But luckily I'm in one piece. But dang do my back and shoulders ache today.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

-Gandhi

I can't believe its over...

The really bad picture is of my darkened hotel room in LA taken from my treo. I can't believe its not the inside of my tent at ALC6 in some campground.

I can't yet put into words an accurate description of my experience that will mean anything to those who have not done the ride. What I can tell you is that this has been the second most important decision I've made in my life ... the first being my move from NYC to help care for my dying father some 10 years ago.

I can also tell you that I made friends in the span of 7 days that I plan on keeping for the rest of my life. Everyone was so wonderful but some of the standouts were Randy, Nicole, Ruby, Blake, George, Joe, Jim.

And to the people I now consider part of my family...Philip, Terry and Stacie, I LOVE YOU!!!!

No computer for another few days - so that's prolly all for now.

More on ALC6 and BBCS Vol 2 coming soon.

Love yourself.
Love each other.

-GBoogie

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

-Gandhi

LET'S RIDE, CLYDE

Well... after talking about it, begging for donations and a few good cries over the overwhelming generosity of folks like my friends, family and my blog family, AIDS/Lifecycle 6 kicks off tomorrow. Me and Bunky finished packing around 11pm tonight.

Day 1 looks roughly like:

4:15 am - wake up
4:45 am - cab arrives
5:00 am - arrive for gear bag in-take
6:00 am - opening ceremonies
6:30 am - ride-out
7:30 am - board bus
9:00 am - arrive Camp 1 - Santa Cruz
4:00-9:00 pm - serve dinner for day 1 to all riders, roadies and staff

Yeah - a long day. But I can't wait. After dinner in the Castro this evening, we had to stop in Walgreens for some last minute items. We kept running into riders and roadies (we all have matching flourescent orange and yellow ride ID bracelets on that we must keep on for the duration of the event) and its like we're all a big pseudo-family already. The camaraderie is phenomenal.

Any way - now its almost midnight and my available sleep window is getting smaller by the moment and I still need to shower before hitting the hay.

Here's a pic of our route over the week in case you're interested.


I'm sure it won't be a surprise that I won't be posting until I'm back in SF almost in the middle of June. But be good to yourself, be good to others and think of me and the nearly 2,499 other riders, roadies and staff members of SF Aids Foundation and LA Gay & Lesbian Center as we make our journey south in the hopes of one day ending the senseless pandemic that is Hiv/AIDS.

One Love,
Gboogie

Gina's At Bat on the Berfday

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

thirty-six on 4/29, y'all

At my birthday dinner on Friday with family and closest SF friends, one dear friend asked me:

"...what does 36 look like for [Gina]?" - to which I responded:

"athletic [in a clean boxy space]. it starts off fat, but ends skinny. single. outdoors. it starts off slutty, but ends in dating. the mouse movement is gaining momentum. learning. growing. hopeful."

Happy Birthday to me, bitches!

it ain't easy...

I've been turned on to a great song... so now I'm sharing it with you:

Sideways - by Citizen Cope:
You know it ain't easy
For these thoughts here to leave me
There's no words to describe it
In French or in English
Well, diamonds they fade
And flowers they bloom
And I'm telling you

These feelings won't go away
They've been knockin' me sideways
They've been knockin' me out lately
Whenever you come around me

These feelings won't go away
They've been knockin' me sideways
I keep thinking in a moment that
Time will take them away
But these feelings won't go away

I was discussing the meaning of the song and my perception with "someone" the other night. He was telling me he feels like it is a somber, not-so-happy song. I think the music, the tone, the quality of this dude's voice - sure, not super happy/fun like an up-tempo Kylie Minogue frothy hit. But I also think it is not necessarily melancholy.

Listen to it. MANY times. God knows I have. I LOVE this shit. But I feel like its merely someone describing how he can't get away from a strong feeling about someone. He can't shake it. His feelings are throwing him for a loop.

But is that necessarily a bad thing?

I don't think so. I'm trying to feel my feelings instead of manage them in my brain. Its fucking scary. Terrifying actually. But the exhiliration and just plain old fun I'm experiencing lately is pretty awesome.

height and saturation

I decided I needed some beauty (other than me, of course) at my desk. So at lunch, I tooled out with my work girlfriend Alejandra and we bought flowers.



They're real pretty:

I only hope their beauty comforts when when I get yelled at by my manager. Because in prepping my flowers for their big debut, I spilled about two-cups worth of water right on top of my laptop. Thankfully, they have already performed a shell-swap and all is good with the world for Gina's harddrive.

HOWEVER, when IT sends the water-logged shell out, I have to fess up to the water spill, with repair costs of roughly $600-800 hitting my manager's budget. Booooooooooo!

don quixote

I don't know why but I am fascinated by these new-fangled windmills: