Wednesday, November 29, 2006

State of the Nator

The bad news: I'm fatter than ever and my chronic "feminine troubles" (that's being delicate just for you, Beast) are back in full effect, so it's time I went in for another round of the dreaded medical testing.

This time, however, I'm going to try to find a decent endocrinologist and finally determine if all my various health issues are somehow related. Some of you may recall that I've tried to do this before, only to be scared away by an endocrinologist with the bedside manner of Ted Bundy. Well, I'm going to try again. I'm not optimistic, but my goal is to find a doctor who
1. is competent or better
2. is a fairly pleasant/sympathetic person
3. is not going to put me in the poorhouse, &
4. is actually available for appointments

Those of you familiar with the American "health care system" probably know what a quest this is, even for someone like me, who is not destitute and has decent insurance. Add to that difficulty around a decade of emotional and physical abuse by practitioners who can't seem to find my records half the time, much less come up with a diagnosis or treatment, and you may see why every time my medical issues reoccur I spend several months grinding my teeth and hoping they will magically disappear, so I don't have to go through it all again. Wish me luck, please.

The good news: it looks like I will get my fondest wish for Christmas, which is to stay home with Mrs. Nator and the Nator critters, with our own tree and cocoa in bed, and everything! I confessed to Mrs. Nator recently that I was yearning for this, and, after considering that the holiday falls on a Monday this year, she negotiated with the fam so that we will have our celebration in Atlanta on Christmas Eve morning, but will be back in NYC that evening. Hooray - no Christmas morning chaos! Thanks, Mrs. Nator - it's the best present ever!

(P.S.: I just bought Mrs. Nator one of two presents I think she's going to luuuuurve, btw, but best not reveal what they are here, as she might be reading. Shhh!)

Howzabout you-all? Started your holiday planning, yet?

Friday, November 24, 2006

Feral Friday Cat Blog

Blogging from the wilds of New Jersey - ain't modern technology grand?

These are the feral kitties my mom's been feeding. There were five - a mom, dad and three kittens, but the others have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Ma Nator especailly misses the kitten she thought was cutest, because it reminded her of her grandbaby kitty, Maurice. But at least these two seem well, and we hope they'll stick around long enough for her to have them trapped, neutered, and placed at a nearby farm in a few weeks.

Sorry for the blurriness, but these wary beasts only come out at night, and are prone to slipping away quickly!

Hope y'all had a nice turkey day. I'm still stuffed!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

New York Minute

This morning, leaving for work at an odd time, I saw something I'd never seen before: a brand, spanking new subway train, all shiny, with the seats still wrapped in plastic.

Of course it stopped at our station, and then sped on, without opening the doors to let us in.

I wonder if that's the MTA's big tease train? They can point to it and say they're deploying new cars, but never let anyone ride them. Also, they can make riders think they're getting on a new train, then giggle "psych!" as they pull out.

I'll be catching another train down to fabulous New Jersey for vegetarian turkey with Ma Nator, then Mrs. Nator and my anniversary/birthday getaway in quaint New Hope, PA. I am so excited, and so outta here.

You all have a happy Thanksgiving, even if your country doesn't celebrate it, ya hear?

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Divine Justice

Ms. Maya Nator, the deaf white cat of the family, sheds prodigiously. She also likes to sleep stuffed right between us, preferably with some part of her body shoved into one human's mouth, while the other person is blessed with at least one foot draped over her shoulder (sing ditty called "The Foot of Love" to the tune of Bacharach's "The Look of Love" here).

Anyway, what with all this very cute, very dangerous and very furry cat ass all up on us every night, many's the time Mrs. Nator and I hack on white hairs, pick them from out of our teeth, nose, underwear, you name it. But we put up with it in the same way many folks put up with their toddlers sleeping with them and drooling all over. (Sing "What I Did for Love" here.)

Still, it gave me great satisfaction when, after responding to the infamous "ork-ork-ORK-GUCCCH!" sound of cat hacking, I found a lovely, large slimey whitish hair ball on the floor. Why the satisfaction, you may ask?

It was liberally tangled with long, curly, red Mrs. Nator hairs.

 

Incidentally, if my death certificate contains the word trichobezoar, do not be surprised.

Things To Do In Brooklyn When You're Bored

I know I've been a bad blogger, lately. Truth is, I've been so overwhelmed by craziness at work, Mrs. Nator's craziness at work, both of us fighting colds, my friend J taking a severe turn for the worse, family stuff, and getting ready for the holiday/our anniversary/birthday getaway that I can barely talk coherently, nowadays, much less write an interesting post.

So, instead, I give you some stupid videos of us nuking leftover Peeps jack o' lanterns. All artwork, including the stunning black icing portraits of us, by me.

You're welcome.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Licensed To Be HOTT

OK, you know when you have two lesbians all a-twitter about seeing his turn as the new 007 - and one of them was mad when Pierce Brosnan was booted - that Daniel Craig is smokin'. Seriously, check it out:

Tuxedo or not, can you say rough trade, boys and girls? I knew you could.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Linebackers on Logo

Halfbacks on Here! And, of course, Backs on Bravo. Time to queer up the NFL, people.

Why? Well, first of all, none of my friends will watch football with me. Now, I could go out and make some more straight boy, sports-loving friends, but... no. So I got to thinking, what would induce some of my peers to root, root, root for the home team with me? How about a little porn?

This occured to me while watching the Jets/Patriots game on Sunday. Two cute, little jock/twink looking quarterbacks duking it out, looking very touch-me-in-the-prep-school-locker-room boyish and all. What if, at the end of each game, the loser had to bottom (or top) for the winner, on camera in the locker room?

Tom & Chad in: Illegal Formation!

Tom & Chad in: "Illegal Formation!"

Instant porn hit, I tell ya! And not just for the gay boys, who, after all, already have piles of straight jock/locker room porn. I'd say, judging from the Internets, that there's a good number of women, slash-fic afficionados and just dirty girls, who would look forward to the all-American sport of men slamming violently into each other if it was followed by a real high-stakes game, if you know what I mean, and I think you do. And think of the relationships that could be formed: lover battling lover on the field for the big game! Why, you've got fodder for three or four poorly acted, angst-ridden softcore soap operas right there.

Plus, the ads would be so much more fun. It wouldn't be just beer, beer, car, car insurance, beer. It would be beer, beer, car, Altlantis cruises, Black Party, car insurance, beer.

So whaddya think? Oh, and don't worry. It doesn't always have to be the quarterbacks. I mean, for the Bears/Giants, Rex Grossman is acceptable, but you've gotta substitute Tiki Barber for Eli Manning. That boy belongs on the Sexiness IR list.

How I Feel Today

This says it all, really.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

UpdateUpdateUpdate

1. Ma Nator is fine. Everything went even better than expected, and her health is great. :o)

2. It's nice to be missed. There was much rejoicing and snuggling when I got home to the Nator flat last night. I'm still picking cat fur out of my teeth.

3. I am crazy busy trying to get shit done before I go away tomorrow to visit Sis Nator, B-I-L Nator, & The Exceptional Niece & Nephew Nator.

4. For once I didn't vote because I was out of town and HOLY SHIT - THE DEMS GOT THE MAJORITY AND RUMMY RESIGNED! W00T W00T!

Not that I trust the dems to make things better, but there's slightly more hope.

You know, my football teams always win when I can't watch, too. Maybe I should stop voting so I don't jinx the country...?

Monday, November 06, 2006

Old Gay River

Had a lovely outing this past Saturday. We took a cruise up the Hudson River set up by the Friends of Hudson River Park. The themes were Fall foliage and seeing the present and developing status of the park from the water, but for Mrs. Nator and I it was more of a grand day out. Personally, there’s very little I enjoy more than perching myself at the front of a boat and letting the wind and water spray slap me as I’m enjoying lovely scenery go by. This trip may not have included dolphins, whales, volcanoes or tropical beaches, but the sight of New York City from the water is something to behold, and the cliffs and trees up towards the palisades are gorgeous.

Spanning the world...

Fortunately, we had a perfect day for it – crisp and sunny. Well, perhaps a bit too crisp, as it got downright cold lingering at the bow of the boat too long. Not that I let that deter me, shivering through it even when Mrs. Nator went inside to warm up and eat potato chips. Firstly, there was the call of Art to fulfill, i.e. I wanted to take some pictures, as is my wont. Secondly, I wasn’t going to miss out on getting a a bit of outside air and having the rare opportunity to see the sights from the river. It was like having a vacation while never leaving the city, and I’m not one to spend my entire vacation indoors with a lot of people eating a buffet, if I can help it.

Interesting crowd, at that. It seems a couple organizations had gotten together groups for the trip. I’m not sure what the second one was, but the first was SAGE/Queens. SAGE stands for Senior Action in a Gay Environment, which is pushing it a bit in the acronym department for my taste, and Queens does not stand for men who are light in the loafers, as you might expect, but the borough of Queens, where this particular chapter of the group makes its home. In other words, besides the general, pleasant diversity of my fellow tourists, which included people of many ages and colours, there was a large contingent of elderly gay people on the boat, which made the crowd more fun to observe, and friendlier in general, from my viewpoint.

We did chat a bit with some folks – about the scenery, this & that, but being somewhat antisocial New Yorkers, we tended to end conversations awkwardly. One unsettling exchange happened when Mrs. Nator and I were sitting inside on the way home, she semi-reclined against me with her head on my chest and my arm around her. One older woman, clearly from SAGE, approached, smiled at us and said “you two are very brave!” I must have given her a confused look, because she repeated “you must be brave, to sit like that.” I think I just made a bit of a face in return, as I wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what she was saying, it was just that I didn’t feel brave. Mrs. Nator & I live in a very liberal neighbourhood in a very liberal city. Most of our friends are queer or very queer-friendly. We knew not only that the boat was filled with gay people, but I’m sure we’d made the sort half-conscious assessment of the crowd on boarding and labeled it safe for some PDA. So, to have that called brave seemed not only odd, but both somewhat enervating and sad.

The truth is, it reminded us both of what dangers might face us and what discriminatory and threatening experiences that woman and the other SAGE members have been through in their lives. I, personally, have been aware and careful at times regarding my level of outward queer appearance any number of times in my life, mainly because I grew up in an environment where I was often an outsider and perceived target, even though when I was young it was due to my race, rather than being gay. Having developed a certain amount of cautious paranoia early in life, I have always had a self-protective eye out for any sort of aggression towards me from other, be it due to race, gender, sexuality or any other facet of my appearance. That said, even though I've also taken pains at times to be as "out" as possible, even in less-than-wecoming situations, I’ve never been gay bashed. The worst I’ve suffered has been some name calling and a bottle thrown from a distance, and I generally feel pretty comfortable in the areas of NYC that I frequent. The older woman’s comment reminded me of how precarious that comfort can actually be.

Mrs. Nator, being several years younger and having reached a height over six feet by age eleven, never has had much real fear of physical assault. She hasn’t experienced much in the way of discrimination, and pretty much refuses to brook it when she does. For her, the woman’s comment was not just sad, but a little shocking. She suddenly realized that there were people who would not just be offended by our touching, but physically hostile. Even though when she’d given me a kiss earlier I’d joked about the crew threatening to “divert this ship”, à la the recent American Airlines incident, she didn’t really get it. Now, faced with this woman’s assumptions, she understood that the other gay people on the boat were not just happy and open, but had been through more pain and fear through discrimination than we ever would.

Neither of us felt brave. We barely felt defiant. We just felt lucky. And we are.

The rest of the trip was delightful (despite the unfortunate appearance of a co-worker on the boat). The foliage was pretty, even if we’re not having a the best season for it, the scenery breathtaking, even if the current dissuaded us from going as far up the river as we’d hoped, and it was good to be out and about. Afterward, we did a bit of shopping (for fun things, not necessities) and had a delicious and romantic dinner. All that fresh air and roaming tuckered me out, as I spent much of the next day sleeping, but it was worth it. If you ever get a chance to go on one of these outings, I recommend it.

Doesn't look like The Bronx, does it?

Now the work week’s begun, and I’m busy getting many things done before I go down to New Jersey to assist Ma Nator. My mother is having a surgical procedure done tomorrow, and I’ll be there to drive her home and help her out for the next couple days as she recuperates. The operation is supposed to be fairly straightforward and low-risk, but, this being my mother, of course I’m a bit nervous. Of course, I’ll try not to show it, as I know she’s nervous, too. It’s far less threatening and complicated than the spinal fusion I had last year, and yet I’m more jittery this than I was about my own painful procedure. I guess when it’s your mom being anaesthetized and sawed on, some rational perspective just goes out the window, no matter what.

Wish us luck kiddies, and have a lovely few days…

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Feelin' Good

When I got home last night, Mrs. Nator was all dressed up in costume.

And it wasn't for Halloween.

Hot-cha-cha-cha!