davedot dot com

I'm on lesbian Lizz's mac again. There's a pride parade tomorrow, but I'm not taking the late bus to be able to go. Monday I'll be home for the summer.

It's amazing to me, looking back at my first foray in writing on the web, that I am still with you today. I was a messed up kid, depressed before I knew it was cool. Then I found this little tidbit, which as far as I can tell is my first acknowledgement that I'm gay. The earliest surviving acknowledgement, anyhow.

Anything you write on the web has the potential of coming back to haunt you. Luckily for me, I have no reputation to protect.

I'm a sucker for filling out forms. I don't know what it is, but it has always been there. My mom is a nurse, and when I was younger I'd have her bring old forms home just so I could fill them out. Naturally, I was thrilled to learn that my propensity for form-filling could actually help somebody with his doctoral thesis.

via Dougal

I was observing the other day (something which I often do) that people are more reserved than they need to be, and about odd things. When I'm having a discussion, there is very little that I won't tolerate well. I don't have a problem with differences of opinion. An interesting conversation has at least a couple, and that's if I'm just having it with myself!

I'm aware that there is not always a tactful way to say something, or that the words sometimes get away from people. I'm also aware that some words are incredibly loaded with connotation. I do not think that should be a barrier to discussion. If something can't be said tactfully it should be said bluntly, rather than not being said at all. If people aren't making points because they're afraid of offending someone, they shouldn't bother. On the other hand, if people are offended in a discussion by frank terms, they need to thicken their skin a bit.

Pimp Hat,
by horsedreamer.

Mom is pretty pimpin in the pimp hat. Actually, this was apparently Papi's hat, and is missing a feather. It's amazing the things you'll run across when you're trying to clean up a little bit.

The blue thing in her ear is the earpiece for my phone. She's harassing Steve about painting. We're going to be doing some painting in a couple of days. I just changed the lightbulb in here to a sunlight florescent, so between that and the new color, it should really brighten things up in here, even though the color is a tad darker, and blue. It feels clean though.

Doesn't momz0r have a pretty smile? I think she does.

Some Horses on a Pasture in Summer,
by horsedreamer.

Mostly, I've just made my first upload to flickr. I've had a flickr account sitting around for quite a while, but a recent discussion with Uncle Bill prompted me to re-investigate. Now I find that they have this niffly little thing that'll post to your blog through an API. Yeah, geeky. Anyhow, I have to figure out how to make it work the way I like, but I have a couple of good ideas.

Most importantly though, I have to make sure that flickr always posts to a specific category. If I'm blogging from flickr, I'm blogging about a photo, and thusly it belongs not in "General" but some "Flickr" or "Photos" category that I have yet to devise. Luckily, the support on WordPress is phenomenal, and the documentation is getting better.

EDIT: After looking at this post for the third time, I realized that I hadn't said a thing about the photo. It's the original from which the header image on this site was made. It's also my wallpaper image. I'm a great fan of it. It's probably one of the best shots I've ever taken. One does have to get lucky now and then.

So I got my test results on Wednesday. The way the whole HIV test thing is supposed to work is that they get test results back, call you, and you set up a follow-up appointment. New York state law dictates that non-anonymous HIV test results must be given in person regardless of the outcome, to allow for consultation, and so a person who is asked to come in doesn't assume that they're positive. Apparently the consultation is a rather nerve-wracking thing.

What happened for me is that the 10 day mark rolled around after I got blood drawn. They said to expect results within 10 days. Well, luckily for me, the momz0r works at the doctor's office. She just flags the chart to be brought up to her in the computer system, and in a few minutes she calls me and tells me my results. That's it! It felt almost anti-climactic though. Oh well, I suppose it's better to know than not. Apparently the results came in, and they hadn't even bothered to call me. If they had, I would've gone through it. At this point though, they can stick it where the sun don't shine.

I'd also like to point out that I am not proud to be HIV-. I am just terrified of the alternative.

There's something to be said for growing up in small towns. Where else can you spend 45 minutes popping straws in a Tim Horton's/Wendy's parking lot and claim it was the most interesting thing there was to do?

I've been hanging out with Tracy (who incidentally hasn't touched her site in ages) quite a bit lately. We spend much time contemplating how little there is to do in the Finger Lakes for people who are Broke As Hell™. These are some of the few times that I regret being unemployed. The other times are when I am on my computer and want it to be faster, or when I want to buy something, or when I'm low on gas, or when I'm hungry, or in other situations where it would do well to have money. In retrospect, there are more than a few times that I regret being unemployed. I do not regret it, however, between the hours of 6 and 11 in the morning, when I am sleeping.