Bobservations

Y’all know I’m a sucker for Dexter; I watched the first series—and it’s rerunning on Showtime as we speak and I’m watching it again—and I watched the actual series finale last year. But now I am hearing that a 10-episode all new original drama series, Dexter Original Sin, set in 1991 Miami will start this Fall. I cannot wait, but Carlos, on the other hand, said this to me:

“Should I be worried again about your obsession with Dexter?”

“Only if you see my buying heavy duty industrial strength plastic sheeting by the thousand-yard rolls and giant garbage bags.”

Just sayin’.

This Tuxedo memory is from November 2019 and is another episode of ‘Tuxedo Went To The Vet.’

'As I said last week, Tuxedo went to the vets about him licking the fur off his front leg. He was given some medication, and some wipes to clean the area. The wipes were easy, but the medication had to be given through a dropper orally, which meant holding Tuxedo down and shoving the dropper in his mouth and giving him the medication.

So, twice a day I would take a towel and wrap it around Tuxedo, exposing just his head and keeping his paws from grabbing at me, and then Carlos would force the medication into his mouth. After the first dose, as soon as he saw the towel, Tuxedo knew what was coming; he didn’t run, but he wrapped his front paws around my neck and tried to climb me to get away. It was quite the struggle, but we finished his round of antibiotics the other day.

And I will give Tuxedo props for not holding a grudge; as soon as he had the meds, he got a treat, and then would crawl into my lap and go to sleep.

He really is a good boy … and thrilled to be “off the dropper.’

Man, that was a chore; that was one strong cat.

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has accelerated his preparations for his debate with admitted lair and couchfvcker,  JD Vance, by holding in policy sessions and mock debates in his home state and on the road.

Walz’s team has enlisted Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to play Vance in debate rehearsals; my question is: how did Pete dumb himself down, and fill his head full of nonsensical rants, to play JD?

This is how my mind works: what if umbrellas were meant to be called brellas but the person who invented them hesitated?

Tennis legend Billie Jean King will make history this month as the first solo female athlete awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Brava, Billie!

Corey DeAngelis, a conservative education reform advocate who has espoused anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments has, er had, a secret career in gay adult films.

Why is it that the most viral and vocal homophobes are the ones shaking their dicks in gay porn?

Corey??? Corey????

Well, the end is near … after eight months my father’s estate will be closing in a couple of weeks and everything will be settled.

A few hiccups along the way—the first attorney passed away as we began the process—but everything seems set to finalize.

I will probably head back to Oregon to close a few things out and transfer some things to my brother—he and my sister-in-law will be taking Dad’s house—and then ::: big sigh :::

I still miss my dad something fierce; with all that’s going on in this country right now, he and I would have, could have, should have, had some great conversations. I still have them, but they play mostly in my head.

That’s the way of the world, I guess.

The other day at work, one of our interns was telling a story about a former co-worker who’d had testicular cancer and everyone started calling him No Nuts. And because I cannot help myself, I said:

“I worked at a place where we had a guy called No Nuts.”

“Did he have testicular cancer, too?”

“No. He only had one eye. But he was a ball-less little dick.”

I have an appointment at HR again next week.

Fabien Joseph Frankel is a French-English actor best known for his role as Ser Criston Cole in the HBO fantasy drama series House of the Dragon, but … Would You Hit It?

I Didn't Say It ....

Lee Daniels, on why he thinks his late father never truly accepted him for being gay:

"He was embarrassed, I think.  And I didn’t understand why he was so hard on me about being gay. And I didn’t realize until after I did The Butler that at that time he was a second-class citizen. And that he was called a n***** . He wasn’t a man.  And so when he saw I was gay, he thought that was even ‘Oh my God this kid, what is this kid going to encounter? It’s bad enough.' So after doing The Butler and doing so much research, I understood where his headset was at and I forgave him and I love him."

His father grew up in a time where his skin color didn’t allow him to eat at certain lunch counters, drink from certain drinking fountains, sit in certain parts of a movie theater or on a bus, so it must have been doubly hard to see your son, thinking he would have to endure those same indignities, come out as gay.

Twice the hate.

Billie Jean King, who will be one of three openly gay U.S. delegates to the Sochi Games, on what it means for openly gay athletes to represent the U.S. presidential delegation:

  

“When we step off the plane we are part of America. We are what an America looks like. So I think President Obama has done an amazing job on promoting diversity and inclusion. He has been the all-time president for doing that. And he’s showing the Russians, ‘Listen everybody belongs in the United States of America.'"

A picture says a thousand words, and just the idea that our delegation will include openly gay athletes sends a powerful message to the world.

Chris Kluwe, suggesting that evangelical Christian lightning rod Tim Tebow is being shut out of the NFL for the same reasons:

"As much as we are polar opposites on the things we stand for, Tebow is the exact same way...There are backup quarterbacks in the NFL right now that Tebow is certainly better than — he could fill a role with a team. But because he brings this other stuff with him, just like I bring my other stuff with me, teams look at it like, 'Well, we don’t want it. We don’t want players speaking out. We don’t want players doing anything other than football.'"

Shut up and play; or else you’re off the team.

I think Kluwe makes another valid point.

Terry McAuliffe, newly sworn in Governor of Virginia, signing an executive order banning discrimination of LGBT state employees as his first official act as governor:

“My administration is committed to keeping Virginia open and welcoming to all who call our Commonwealth home. Executive Order Number 1 sets the tone for an administration that will not accept discrimination in any form, and one that will work tirelessly to ensure all Virginians have equal opportunity in the workplace, no matter their backgrounds, race, religion, or whom they love.”

Maybe Virginia can turn itself around from the days of Cuccinelli.

David O. Russell, American Hustle director, on ‘poor’ Jennifer Lawrence being exhausted, suffering pneumonia and nearly missing awards season because of the hectic production schedule for The Hunger Games:

“I personally think they should give her a bit of breathing room over there because they’re printing money. But she’s a very alive person. … I’ll tell you what it is about that girl — talk about 12 years of slavery, that’s what the franchise is. And I’m going to get in so much trouble for saying that.”

If you knew you’d get in trouble for saying it, why continue speaking?

To compare a professional, highly-paid multi-millionaire actress, who lives the life of a globe-trotting, designer dud wearing, award-winning superstar to that of a person bought and sold and forced to work, and tortured and raped and murdered is the height of stupidity.

Shame on you David O. Russell.

Sean Penn, speaking about the 65 guns he owns at his relief benefit for Haiti:

"Being provoked by this aforementioned strong woman and considering how liberating of bullshit and ugliness it would be not only get rid of the guns I have in the continental United States but also to destroy them, Jeff Koons and I had a chat the other day. The highest bidder gets every single one of my guns put in the hands of this iconic artist and sculptor. Koons will decommission [and] render inactive all of my cowardly killing machines."

Minds can be changed, even Sean Penn’s. And the ‘strong woman’ is said to be Penn’s new girlfriend, Charlize Theron, whose mother shot and killed Theron’s father after enduring years of physical abuse.

PS The winning bidder for not-yet created piece by Koons was Anderson Cooper, who topped Piers Morgan with a $1.4M bid for the charity. 

Random Musings

Earlier this week I went to bed relatively early. Carlos was back on the computer and as I do, I asked that he not stay up late because he gets up early, and then I went to bed.

I awoke at about 12:15 AM and he was not in the room, and, as my mind always goes to morbid places, I wondered if maybe he was dead in the house somewhere. I was about to get up to check but, well, I was tired and, yeah, I kinda fell back asleep.

But, just before drifting completely away, I heard him come into the bedroom, so I knew he wasn’t dead, and knew I wouldn’t find his body slumped over the office desk in the morning and then wonder who was going to make coffee, so it was all good.

Except … I dreamt that Carlos got into bed and began torturing me, poking, pinching, tickling, and I got so angry that I said I was sleeping in the guest room.

The next morning I was so angry at the way Dream Carlos treated me that I didn’t speak to Real Carlos.

I call that Rational Irrationality, and luckily I explained it to him so he could see my point of view … as he called the local psychiatric hospital and tried to have me placed on a 5150 hold.

Earlier this week Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie announced that he would call a special session of the state Legislature next month to consider marriage-equality legislation: 

"This is now the 20th year of discussion that has taken place on the issue and associated issues with it. I feel very, very strongly that the votes are there to pass this because it is time for marriage equity to take place."

The special session would likely last four to five days and Abercrombie said the bill, which includes a religious exemption, would pass both houses of the Legislature. Hawaii Attorney General David Louie said, if approved, the bill as proposed would allow for same-sex nuptials to begin as soon as November 18.

Do it Hawaii.

So, after we came back from vacation, I noticed that there was a small puddle of water underneath the sink in the master bathroom. I looked around for a leak, ran water in the sink, felt up the pipe — not nearly as fun as it might sounds … feeling up pipes — and found no drips. I cleaned up the water, cleaned up under the sink, and left it at that.

The next day, no water; same for the next day after that. But on Sunday, naturally, the leak was back and Carlos, who fancies himself a plumber without the butt crack, found that the leak was in the supply line from the hot water line; he felt it was beyond his area of expertise … I giggle ... expertise … and he began calling plumbers.

One wanted $115 for an emergency call plus $75 drive time, plus whatever the repair cost, so I figured this guy would get us for $300 or more. Another guy said $85 plus repair costs and labor, which I figured might be $200.

But it got me thinking … what if I advertised myself as a plumber, charged $115 emergency call fee, plus $75 drive? I could come out, say I couldn’t fix it, and pocket an easy $190 for nothing. A few calls like that per week and I’d be rolling in it.

I may have found a new career ….

PS We called a guy who’s done work on the house in the past to ask if he could recommend a plumber and he came out instantly, found the leak, bought the new parts, fixed the leak, and charged $80.

PPS That's not the actual plumber who came out to the house. I mean, if that was the guy, I'd gladly shell out the $300-plus!

This one just makes me smile.

The American Family Association [AFA] has been boycotting Home Depot for over three years because of the company’s support for LGBT groups and Pride celebrations, and this week the group announced that it would be ending the boycott, because according to Randy Sharp, the AFA director of special bigot projects, Home Depot has changed its behavior:

“We’re glad to report that we are suspending the boycott of The Home Depot. After monitoring the company for several months, we’re satisfied that the company has withdrawn its major financial contributions to gay activist groups and to their activities. … We certainly do expect The Home Depot to deny that they have turned back their contributions to gay activist groups, but AFA has monitored the company – and actions speak louder than words.”

Sharp has no specifics about how they “monitored” the Home Depot and offered no proof that they changed their evil ways, but I guess if he says it’s true then it’s …

Huh? What? Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes offered a response to Sharps statement and it goes something like this:

“We haven’t made any changes to our policies for inclusion and respect of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. We have not directed our associates to discontinue participation in Pride or other community events, and have no intention of doing so.”

The AFA caught in another lie.

This one makes me giggle.

When formerly closeted, now openly gay tennis legend Billie Jean King was interviewed by Stephen Colbert, he asked all sorts of questions about her career, and her game, but the question, well, actually, the question and answer that I loved best was when Colbert asked her if, since she was in the closet while she played professionally, if she ever got upset when the line judge, yelled "Out!"

"Yes," she said.

Love.It.

The AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations] has added transgender employment protections to its constitution.

The decision to ban transgender discrimination at its 2013 convention followed the decision of several unions within the federation who have already adopted those changes.

And here's the new language: 

“To encourage all workers without regard to race, creed, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to share equally in the full benefits of union organization.”

Bravo, AFL-CIO.

The march goes on.

I caught the new season of The View this week and I am officially over the show unless they have a truly watch-worthy guest on.

Sherri Shepard is as dumb as a box of rocks, and Jenny McCarthy has just a few more active brain cells than that. Barbara Walters showed up on Monday with a new face that was pulled tighter than Star Jones in an Herve Leger bandage dress, which only leaves Whoopi as the rational one.

But, no matter how much I loves me some Whoopi, I cannot wade through the idiocy for her any longer.

Well, Sir Patrick Stewart is officially a taken man. The 73-year-old got married last weekend to his 35-year-old girlfriend, Sunny Ozell, and then took to Twitter to make the announcement with the most adorable wedding photo ever: