Paul

savage25 @ 12:45 pm: The end of an era...
Well, if you haven't already guessed by now, I haven't been active on LiveJournal for a long while. 22-weeks since my last update. My "paid account" expired yesterday, and I've made the decision to not renew.

LiveJournal was a great way of expressing myself and meeting new people over the past 5 years. I've found a new way of expressing myself and connecting with friends and family: "Facebook"


I won't be deleting my journal... just not going to be keeping it updated, or even pretend that I'm still active in it now.

I have lots of great memories and friends from LJ:
bassbear - a cutie and his student quotes-of-the-day were always great to read
bearpawly - his coming-out and many of his great entries have deeply affected me
bigfundrew - his humor and family are so much a part of him and it shows (now on Facebook too)
jkusters - always there to listen and give a hug (now on Facebook too)
kev_bot - so smart and witty, truly an amazing guy (now on Facebook too)
labelsdc - this fashionista and I are life-long friends now (now on Facebook too)
shadowbearmn - the cats and humor and wit, and thanks for the pokes
texaspenguin - he made it through medical school and kept his smile
thepup & cactusbear - so great to meet these guys in AZ, so much fun!
thereisnofear - the sexxy, fun, and talented Kendall

If I haven't already, someday I hope to meet all of you in-person. I'll keep an eye out for you, and if you're on Facebook, be sure to "friend me".

[Edit: I just read through a bunch of friends posts. Facebook isn't the same... I do admit to missing LJ... reading & writing the entries here is much more creative... but... it also takes more time to read / write than a one-line status. Work has been busy, priorities change, etc.]

Tags: changes, nostalgia

savage25 @ 03:05 am: *M*U*S*I*K*F*E*S*T*
So much to say... so little time / energy...

1) P-Town update... so far behind... had a great week... need to post blow-by-blow

2) Pictures... lots of pictures uploaded... P-Town but there are others too that I have yet to post... search and you may find...

3) Musikfest... yay! love this festival

4) Volunteered at ticket booth tonight... met nice people and shared "knowledge" of fest with them... felt "knowledgeable" and/or "experienced" and/or "cool" hehehe :)

5) tonight -- festing followed by solo drinking and talking with strangers "who are my 'newest best friends'" -- at least for tonight... need to reconnect with them -- Steph (or SP) at the Trexlertown Applebees... and "Tom" the guy from Allentown with the boyfriend in Harrisburg that I flirted with at the ticket booth... and the bartender, Joel, walked me to the door to prove to the officer that there was water in my mug... and then Kevin, the other bartender, chasing after me to say "HEY you can't leave here with that" and then him looking at the police officer and him saying it's OK... Priceless

OH... and 6) buying round of 5 shots at the bar for complete strangers (except for my new best friend Steph [see above])... and more beers than I can count... and cashing out at the bar with $25 tab... and $15 tip that I add... $40... priceless... love it!

7) Drunken LJ postings that are long overdue.

8) MUSIKFEST... *L*O*V*E* it ... (did I say that yet?)

Tags: drunk, musikfest

savage25 @ 10:17 am: P-Town Bear Week Begins...
Drive up yesterday was "looonnng", but OK. Town is nice and the shops look great... scenery (both actual scenery and eye-candy) is nice... Was too tired to go out partying last night, so Barry and I called it an evening after dinner. Well rested now, sitting on the porch, looking at the Moors and enjoying the nice breeze... looking forward to the beach and a night out on the town.

Tags: travel

savage25 @ 01:16 pm: 16 Notable Events in the Past 16 Weeks
Mar 23rd -- that was the last posting... *sigh*

Thanks to bigfundrew for the nudge a couple days ago... that nudge combined with philabearjoe's recent picture of me, and inspired by the fact that obsessing7 is still posting... has finally got me to come in to LJ and visit for a spell.

Since March I've poked my head in a couple times and tried to keep up with a few LJ friends... but never got around to making an entry. Sad part is, I know there's been a couple of events in my life when I thought in my head "I should make an LJ entry about this"...

The truth is that I used to journal while at work... but earlier this year, I had an intense project that took away my surfing/journaling time... now, I'm just out of the habit.

So without further ado...
( 16 Notable Events in the Past 16 Weeks )

Kind of amazing that there was at least one important thing each week... makes me feel good to reflect on them a bit and record them. I'll have to share some pictures of them too -- once I find/upload the pics.

So now we're caught-up to today... I'm sitting at camp right now, recovering from a night of fun "Bear Weekend" partying. Barry and I are on vacation this entire week... we're going to P-Town for Bear Week. I'm excited about going to P-Town for the first time ever... and excited about having a "fire and picnic on the beach" -- something I've always wanted to do. Really looking forward to a fun and relaxing (and "sexy" with all the eye-candy there will be) week!

(Hugs)

Tags: birthday, computer, drunk, family, friends, heidi ho, house, moving, net, thoughts, travel, woods, work

savage25 @ 02:48 pm: Easter...
"Happy Easter"
or for the non-religious: "Hoppy Easter"

I haven't said that much this year... Easter has become a non-holiday for me over the past couple years. I feel a little strange about it this year.

Easter used to be one of the major holidays of the year -- I mean, religiously it's one of the highest holy days of the year... and growing up it meant getting all dolled-up for church and an hour-and-half service... and family dinners... and, of course, the non-religious aspects of it: Easter Bunny, hidden eggs, hidden Easter basket, candy, candy, toys, candy, etc.

It was a major day for me every year growing up -- probably second only to Christmas.

And now... now it's just another Sunday. In fact... I just signed off of work. I put in a few hours of work today, and I'm off to NYC this evening, and there's really nothing special about the day.

I saw this coming -- back when I became "too old" to search for hidden Easter eggs. (You know, 20 years-old or so *wink*) And, then when I started not considering organized religion as part of my beliefs, it took yet another dive in the "Holiday Hierarchy".

Today, I could care less about Easter. It means nothing to me... there's not a single Easter egg in the house... not a single bunny... not even a chocolate rabbit to bite the ears off of.

It saddens me a little actually.

I remember how it used to be: how exciting it was looking for the eggs and easter basket; how fun it was to dress-up for church and get "Spring clothes"; how nice it was to see family and eat a huge, scrumptious meal; the joy of seeing the first flowers of Spring.

*sigh*

I got a little Easter surprise from my mom & dad this morning -- a deposit into my bank account of some "candy money" so that I could go out and get Barry and I some Easter candy. I love my mom! :) It made me happy... and, I know if I lived in the same town as them, we'd surely have a basket of candy hand-delivered... and I'd probably even go to church with them...

Final thought: it just makes me wonder what's so special about Easter and why I'm sad... to me I think it means "family" more than anything... and so I'm left with this sadness that my family is not around me, and without them Easter really doesn't mean anything... and I'm left with one less reason to celebrate... one less holiday on my calendar... and I think that's what really saddens me the most: in today's day-and-age, when it's "GO GO GO", any lost day of "fun, family, relaxing, thankfulness, and joy" is a lost day indeed. :(

Tags: family, nostalgia, thoughts

savage25 @ 07:13 pm: It's been a long, long time...
Good lord it's been a long time since I posted... and I've been sitting on pictures from Mardi Gras for almost two months now.

Mardi Gras (back in the first weekend of February) was a great trip. Ryan and Alison were gracious hosts. Had a great time with Kim and them in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Got my pictures uploaded.. here's a sampling... You can also see them all in the gallery.

	Getz me some Sonic! Yumm! I've gotz to get me some Sonic whenever I get near one. :)
	First Beads Alison, Ryan, Paul: Our first beads and Ryan got me and him coozies. "Shuck Me, Suck Me, Eat Me Raw"
	Fun Times Alison, Kim
	Fun Times Paul, Ryan: with the "S Word" that lasted a few nights before getting broken by beads and then stolen.
	Waiting in Line Paul: waiting in line for breakfast at Mother's with "feather" beads that I caught the day before
	Stopping by Brad & Angelina's Kim, Alison, Paul: We stopped by Brad & Angelina's but things were quiet there.
	Say Cheese
	Bead Heaven Rolling around in the beads -- end of the weekend we had probably around 200lbs of beads -- seriously!
	Kim & Paul Jazz Brunch at Commander's Palace
	Ryan & Alison

Since Mardi Gras, it feels like a lifetime has passed -- hard to believe it has only been 7 weeks... I've been SO extremely busy at work. Got somewhat of a promotion -- or at least a new job function -- being the admin for my department for a new software package that the company is adopting. I've been frantically developing linkage from my software into this new software so that our business can still function. The timelines for the implementation of the new software has been crazy tight... April 7th is the "go-live" date... I've been working until 2-3am in the morning a couple nights getting everything in order.

Tomorrow I leave for NYC for a week of training. I'm so excited about being in the big city for the week. I love it when the company puts-you-up and I get to be "corporate traveler". I'm hoping to catch a play and shop in the village and meet-up with a college friend. Oh, yeah, and train and work too...

Tags: food, friends, mardigras, photos, travel, work

savage25 @ 02:54 pm: Mardi Gras... Here I Come!
OK... caught up on some overdue LJ reading...

Leaving on Wednesday for Mardi Gras (New Orleans)!! Whoo hoo!
Quite excited about it. A little nervous -- travel nerves and wondering what-all we will do down there for the weekend... My friend sent an itinerary this morning scoping-out all of our plans and that really helped put it into perspective that there's lots to do and I'll be with good company (fun and knows what to do there). The plans really helped ease my concerns about "what will we be doing while there".

A little nervous about spending "so much" money when I really don't have it. But I'm not going to think about financial stuff while there... will have taxes and bonus coming in a month to help with all that... so yay for credit cards.

Other than travel nerves, another thing kind of causing a little trepidation about the trip: clothes. I need more comfortable clothes. Or, I need to loose weight to make my clothes more comfortable. But, I'm also not going to think about that... I'll take what I do have that's comfortable and just make-do.

I'm very excited about the trip... a whole weekend of travel and fun and adventure. I've told a couple people that it's a "Girl's Weekend" because I'm going without Barry. I feel a little weird about the fact that I'm going without him... it will be my first trip / weekend without him in a very long time... like two years?? He's going to Boston for the weekend... which I feel a little jealous about... is that odd? I guess it's only human.

---

In other news:

We got a small camera (Olympus Stylus 760) for us to be able to take pictures on trips and such without me having to lug around my Canon 20D. I'm excited about the new toy. Barry's taking it to Boston... I'll take my Canon with me to Mardi Gras... but it's always so heavy to be walking around with it... but I feel photographic right now. However, I'm sure after a few hurricanes I won't be thinking of being artistic with a camera.

Barry got a job (starting in a week or two?) -- yay! Hopefully the debt hole we've fallen into will go away over the next few months with two incomes again.

Went up to the campground two weekends ago to check on our site... all is well -- a little snow cover on the ground -- the camper looked so "sleepy".

Speaking of The Woods, I've been hard at work developing new things for the website. Most recently: the photo gallery, which is dynamic so that the owner can upload and label the photos and "for-sale" items. I've been up late working on that and some other "geeky-fun" things. I *heart* web development.

Tags: computer, friends, mardigras, travel

savage25 @ 11:00 pm: Posted using TxtLJ
PS: Out bowling with group of gay men. In a straight world. Once again i wonder 'What if I were straight?' *sigh* oh well... Having fun!

savage25 @ 10:47 pm: Posted using TxtLJ
I know I said i would never say this... But... Oh to be in highschool and know what I know now.

savage25 @ 04:42 pm: Presidential Meme...
Not that surprising I guess...

64% Hillary Clinton
60% Joe Biden
59% Rudy Giuliani
59% Barack Obama
58% John Edwards
57% Chris Dodd
56% Mitt Romney
55% Dennis Kucinich
53% Bill Richardson
52% Mike Gravel
48% John McCain
47% Fred Thompson
46% Tom Tancredo
40% Mike Huckabee
39% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Tags: meme