{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:dendren","title":"Life is short and so am I...","subtitle":"and other deep thoughts from a Bizarro world","author":{"name":"dendren"},"link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/data\/atom"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"service.feed","type":"application\/x.atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/data\/atom","title":"Life is short and so am I..."}}],"updated":"2013-03-20T15:14:24Z","entry":[{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:dendren:527865","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/527865.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=527865"}}],"title":"dendren @ 2013-03-19T08:04:00","published":"2013-03-19T15:04:04Z","updated":"2013-03-19T20:25:20Z","content":"\"IMG_3816\"<\/a>

Ok\u2026 it only took a month but here are some pics from the cruise last month. I took none of them. No wait, that\u2019s not true. I took the one\u2019s that don\u2019t have people in them\u2026 the cave pic and the Curacao bridge pic LOL the rest\u2026 I think most came from <\/a>dhbearguy<\/b><\/a><\/span> and who knows who else.

I\u2019m putting them behind a cut since there are quite a few. They should be mostly work safe except for shirtless guys and a very nasty looking towel animal LOL



\"IMG_3805\"<\/a>
On the car rental bus heading to port

\"IMG_3813\"<\/a>
Eric, Ray, me and Dave P

\"IMG_3816\"<\/a>
sailaway party... Josh, Chris, Dave P, Carl, Dave H, Me, Harley, Brian, Gene & Steve.

\"IMG_3819\"<\/a>
Dave and I at the Zoomanity t-dance. I'm a bear, get it! It would have been much more fun if it hadn't been so damn windy. I spent most the party keeping my ears from flying away and my stupid fur sarong thingee from blowing up (or off).

\"IMG_3824\"<\/a>
The gang all goes to lunch... Rob, Rik, Jake, Gene, Steve, me, Dave P, Harley, Dave H, Robert, Carl, Brian and Chris

\"IMG_3823\"<\/a>
Jake and me after lunch

\"P2110145\"<\/a>
Curacao

\"cave<\/a>
a good pic I took in the caves in Curacao... in an area where they said \"no pics\" I'm such a rebel!

\"65239_4964795670301_1362681734_n\"<\/a>
Robert, Dave P and me. I look grumpy :P

\"482555_4964784270016_1365141860_n\"<\/a>
Brian, Chris, Carl and Harley

\"IMG_3844\"<\/a>
Jake putting the A in Curacao

\"69615_4964844511522_939851036_n\"<\/a>
The Europdam in Curacao

\"P2120147\"<\/a>
So, every night the cabin steward makes a towel animal and puts it on your bed when they do the nightly turn down. You get fun little monkeys, sting rays, and.... well... one night I came back to find this. For the life of me all I can see in this one is a dog with it's ass in the air ready to get fucked. And it's not just me and my dirty mind... others agreed it was very weird. Someone said it's an elephant but where's the head??? LOL Anyway... this was my unique towel animal of the trip LOL

\"IMG_3866\"<\/a>
Jake, Carl, Dave H, Steve, Gene, Chris

\"35499_10151258702336644_427710971_n\"<\/a>
Carrie Fisher when she was on stage, the dog's name is Gary, I don't know who the guy is. Neither did she :(

\"CarrieFisher\"<\/a>
me with Carrie Fisher

\"IMG_3894\"<\/a>
Carrie Fisher with our friend Dave M's little buddy Socktopus, who is apparently world traveled and has his picture taken every where.

\"IMG_3907\"<\/a>
Dave H and I... this must have been the 80s party since he has on his mirror ball cap. I guess I didn't dress 80s at all LOL

\"IMG_3910\"<\/a>
Dave H & Chris

\"IMG_3917\"<\/a>
Dave H and our favorite performer Amy!

\"485166_10151351587967739_426592774_n\"<\/a>
Chris and Dave... this must have been the blue t-dance, cause well... you know, blue.

\"551393_10151258701471644_241104418_n\"<\/a>
Chris, Mark and Carl... in blue lighting but oddly enough this wasn't the blue party.

\"539650_538466042854438_1541313442_n\"<\/a>
Dave P, me and Robert on the catamaran in Aruba

All in all, the trip was fine and dandy. I talked a bit about some of the drama but still, it was a great week with friends I love dearly. I'm glad the pics captured that so nicely. :)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:dendren:527454","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/527454.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=527454"}}],"title":"dendren @ 2013-03-18T08:05:00","published":"2013-03-18T15:05:30Z","updated":"2013-03-20T15:09:49Z","content":"It turned out to be quite the busy weekend. Lunch with Bill Friday was nice. And we only talked about David 5 - 10 minutes at most. Otherwise it was just a pleasant lunch catching up with one of my oldest friends.

I ended up having a very quiet Friday night at home since Bob was working, but his night was crazy busy... he gave 10 HIV tests, a record for him for one night, so he was pretty beat when he got home at 8:30 :P

We started off Saturday morning with a text from my boss saying she just woke up in bed with Bob next to her. I was like WTF? And the realized she was talking about the \"little\" news article that Bob had been interviewed for a couple weeks back.

I went to 7-11 to grab a paper and was pretty suprised when when I got there\u2026 there Bob was, front page, above the fold, for the world to see with the headline Aging with AIDS LOL OMG\u2026 we totally didn\u2019t expect this to be a front page story...

\"news\"
The full article is linked here\u2026
http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/health\/ci_22802839\/aging-aids-surviving-struggle<\/a>

It was a really nicely done article and finally I got quoted in the paper where I didn\u2019t either get misquoted or had something taken out of context making me look dumb LOL But Bob\u2026 his part of it all came out thoroughly great.

It\u2019s amazing to me to think about it. Besided the obvious \"wow, we're both still alive thing\", 10 years ago I would have been mortified\u2026 for all the neighbors, and friends, and the world, to see that Bob has AIDS, and we were gay, and all of that. In the 90s it probably would have been an issue but not near as much now. Still, it\u2019s pretty damn brave to be that open.

We spent much of Saturday doing chore type stuff, and fielding \u201cI saw Bob in the paper\u201d comments, texts and calls. Even my accountant and his wife (who haven't even met Bob) mentioned it when I ran by their office to pick up my taxes. When I asked how they even knew it was \"my\" Bob they said \"Bob R and Phil H living in Saratoga partnered for 21 years... it wasn't a difficult leap to figure it out\" LOL... I guess there is no hiding even if we wanted to at this point LOL

After a chore filled Saturday afternoon I made us dinner Saturday night and then we went out to Renegades for the monthly underwear party. I had a nice time but was suprised that I really only knew a couple of people. It was a very different group than usual. And SO young... I felt kinda old! LOL\u2026 and imagine how Bob felt, especially after I turned to him and said \u201cgosh, I wonder how many people recognize you as the old guy with AIDS from the paper today\u201d. He laughed and called me a jerk. I\u2019m such a brat sometimes. :)

Yesterday I made us bisquits and gravy for breakfast and then we went to the mall and did some clothes shopping for Bob, he needed it. Then spent part of the afternoon visiting our friends Ty and Tim. It was a good day and plenty relaxing.

And now it seems impossible but we\u2019re starting another work week. They just keep zooming by.

Hope you all had a great weekend!"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:dendren:429759","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/429759.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=429759"}}],"title":"dendren @ 2011-02-01T07:42:00","published":"2011-02-01T15:42:01Z","updated":"2013-03-20T15:14:24Z","content":"So\u2026 in watching guys at the gym the last few years I have decided that guys workout style totally reflects their sex style.

My fave of late is Grimace \u201cleft eye\u201d McGrimace\u2026 I\u2019m absolutely convinced the grimace-y face he makes as he pulls the weights is exactly the face he makes when he\u2019s fucking. Determined, teeth bared, left eye crossing ever so slightly and making a quiet grunt as he methodically does each rep. He\u2019s in control. He\u2019s slow and steady. He works a little harder with each pump as he grimaces and that eye crosses just a little more until that last rep where his body is so tight and struggle-y and he looks like he\u2019s about to burst. It\u2019s HOT! I love watching him work out.

George Jefferson\u2026 he walks around the gym all cocksure and strutty, you know\u2026 ummm like George Jefferson on the Jeffersons. He spends massive amounts of time strutting around and talking\u2026 starting out conversations with a fist bump and \u201cYo!\u201d, but\u2026 but\u2026 I\u2019ve never seen him touch a weight. I bet he doesn\u2019t get laid either. He prolly walks the walk in the singles bar, fist bumps and \u201cyo\u2019s\u201d a lot but can never land a babe cause he\u2019s spending so much time making sure he looks like he\u2019s 2 kool 4 skool.

Speedy Gonzalez\u2026 he attacks the weights with speed and little thought for form or style. Rep1rep2rep3rep4rep5rep6rep7rep8\u2026 he\u2019s just doing it as fast and hard as he can. He\u2019s done and moved on before I really know he was there.

Zen master\u2026 he approaches the machines slowly and I swear he does a little prayer beforehand, or maybe that is stretching of some sort. His eyes are closed, he\u2019s clearly working to achieve nirvana. He grabs the handle of the weight machine and runs his fingers over it trying to get just the perfect grip. He takes forever to finish his set as he is *one* with the machine and is aware of every movement he makes. He looks good but I find myself always bored waiting for him to finish up and go.

Little Mouse just sort of timidly comes up to the machine and very sort of just piff piff piffs through it. He\u2019s a tiny little thing, scurrying about from machine to machine. You kind of know he\u2019s there, doing sort of cute little half reps. He\u2019s in and out and you\u2019d hardly even known he was ever there except for that itty bitty bit of sweat or something left behind.

Big Ass Steroid Muscle Freak\u2026 he\u2019s loud. He makes sure *everyone* in the gym knows just how hard he is pumping. He goes all out and goes max weight on everything\u2026 he watches himself in the mirror and strains hard and grunts and groans really really loud, interspersed with OH YEAH, THAT\u2019S IT, YEAH YEAH ***GRUNTGROWLGRUNT*** YEEEEEEAAAAAH!!!!!!! He\u2019s sort of hot in a testosterone muscle ape sort of way and he clearly has something to prove. Oh, and he also has an ittttty bitttttty little dick, based on my previous completely scientific observations.

Spaz\u2026 he\u2019s like a little epileptic with the weights. *Total* spaz, like\u2026 is that a weight machine, or did you accidentally hook up to an electric chair? He\u2019s always contorted in to all sorts of weird ummm\u2026 contortions, even when the machine is a basic \u201csit up straight and push this\u201d sort of thing. Sometimes when he is going at it, totally spazzing and contorting, I kind of want to go over and stick a piece of wood (not mine) or something in his mouth just to make sure he doesn\u2019t swallow his tongue.

So yeah\u2026 many different types to watch\u2026 some very very hot, some very very not\u2026 and I\u2019m sure their workouts match the way they have sex\u2026 I\u2019m sure of it.

Wait... me? my workout style? it kind of goes back and forth between two types\u2026

On my good days I\u2019m confident, in control, doing what feels right and careful not to hurt myself\u2026 slow and steady wins the race\u2026 that\u2019s me! Me and the Pointer Sisters loving that slow hand and easy touch\u2026 However, I usually stop before I\u2019m really done cause ultimately I\u2019m just kinda lazy and the initial rush of the machine has already faded, and I\u2019m prolly hungry or need to go to the bathroom.

Other times I\u2019m not so much on my game and all low esteem-y\u2026 you know, sort of all\u2026 rep 1\u2026 rep 2\u2026 hmmmmm, I don\u2019t think this machine likes me. I bet this machine totally just settled to let me use it. Sigh, I\u2019m sure it wishes that hot muscle guy over there would come and use it instead\u2026 god, why am I here? oh wait, ummmm rep 5\u2026 rep 6\u2026 am I doing this right? I don\u2019t think I\u2019m doing this right. This isn\u2019t working. I hate this. Pfft\u2026 this machine is totally not into me\u2026 rep 8\u2026 ow\u2026 OWWW!!! Easy there cowboy\u2026 rep 9\u2026 hmmm\u2026 I wonder what I should have for dinner tonight\u2026 oh man, I hope this machine isn\u2019t going to want to stay and keep working out all night. Ummmm\u2026 I\u2019m meeting friends for dinner, that\u2019s it! Rep 10\u2026 ok, I\u2019m done, can I go now?

:)"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:dendren:171288","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/171288.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/dendren.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=171288"}}],"title":"What livejournal is to me...","published":"2006-12-29T15:51:45Z","updated":"2013-03-20T15:12:10Z","content":"Seems like lately I've heard quite a few people say they disenchanted with\/less interested in\/are not getting what they want from Live Journal. Makes sense, was a new fun technology and especially the early birds could easily be getting over it. But, I've been thinking a bit about what exactly LJ is to me as a whole and had one of those wonderful dawning realizations as to (at least part of) why I enjoy it so much.

I love Fannie Flagg, her books, her stories of small town life in the 40s, Fried Green Tomatoes, Welcome to the World Baby Girl, Standing in the Rainbow, etc. The world was so different then, people sat on their front porch and chatted with whoever came by. Some were closer than others, some aquaintences built in to friendships. Neighbor Dorothy always had some advice, or cookies on the table for whoever would drop in. Front porches were where in the best of times people laughed and talked and told stories and gossiped and shoe'd away the flies. And in times of tragedy, whether it was the loss of a loved one, or just plain their cookies burned in the oven, there were always some people there out on their porches to offer everything from a happy wave hello as you walked by, to a hug of support, or to listen. So much of life in town happened on front porches it seems. Of course, I know Fannie Flaggs accounts are fictionalized, perfect and pretty images of what the world was at the time, but I *know* that old front porch was a place of magic, I know it! Then the world changed. Everyone went inside. Everyone had screen doors to keep the flies out of the house, and air conditioners to keep it cooler inside than out. The becon call of television brought people inside too and the world changed and now most houses aren't even built with front porches any longer.

So this morning it stuck me while thinking about LJ, that *that* is what LJ is to me. Maybe to nobody else, but to me, it's my front porch. People come by here and there, wave hello as they wander by, stop by and share some laughs or support. There is flirting and serious talk and gossip, and sometimes just plain sillyness. All out on this new world wide front porch of LJ. And then there are all these other people with LJ's and front porches, and I can do the same, dropping by time to time and enjoying their hospitality. Some people come by a lot, some only on a rare occasion, and some not at all but ultimately all are welcome even that crazy old coot that you never quite understand what he's trying to say or the new guy in town who is trying to start life anew.

For me... it's just a desire for a simpler world I think. Where ultimately we are still all small town folk at heart, and just reach out to each other human to human. I know I don't get enough of that in the real world. For a while now I've been dissing LJ and whining how pitiful I am that it is almost my entire social life in many ways, but you know, it's not so bad and is certainly working for me. I'm sure I'll get bored with it at some point. I'll go in and close my doors and flip on the tv, or whatever the next nifty new thing is. But for now... I'm perfectly happy sitting out here on my porch saying hey to all those who wanna come by and sit a spell.

Hope you all have a wonderful new year, thanks for dropping in :)

oh, a quick edit... Neighbor <\/a>pagerbear<\/b><\/a><\/span> has duly corrected me... it is beck and call not becon call. Yay for smart folks on the porch :)"}]}