boo-ya! happy halloween!

great halloween costume

a conspiracy

They removed all of the tasty chips from the vending machine at work and replaced them all with the "Baked" variety. This makes me sad inside. Oh, I'll eat them, but I will not be happy about it. In other vending machine news, I nearly choked on a Mike and Ike today. Perhaps both these events are signs that I should stay far far away from the vending area. In other, healthier choices news, I may go to the gym tonight.

fall foliage tour '07

Greg and I did a road trip today to see some of Ohio's fine fall foliage. We first headed to Wooster to return Macy's camera. She left it at our place last Sunday when she was here for pumpkin carving. (On a side note, the glitter pumpkin became a pile of mush.) From Wooster we decided to take the Ohio Tourism Board's recommendation for fall colors and drive Route 250 from Wooster to Norwalk. It was a pleasant drive with some real bursts of color. The best viewing, though, was on Route 303 on our way back home. For a long stretch from Norwalk to Brunswick, the colors enveloped the road. It was beautiful.

hello nevada?

My last plea got visitors from Canada to visit my web site and become noted on my visitor map. By my count I estimate that around 34 of the 50 states are represented on my map. And I have a fairly large following in Oklahoma and Kansas. Go figure, I don't even know anyone there. At any rate, I would like to have at least one visitor from every state. Our first mission, the great state of Nevada. If you know someone from Nevada, ask them to visit my site. Even better, have them sign my guest book. With your help, we can spread gzpzguy.com across the nation, and then the world.

Current web site visitors in North America. 10/24/2007

a new member of the family

So Greg and I don't have children...we have electronics. And it looks like the stork (well, in our case the FedEx man) will be delivering a new MacBook to us in a couple of weeks. He'll weigh in at 5.1 pounds and be only 1.08 inches high when closed. Both fathers are very excited to welcome their new addition.

In other Apple related news...I thought that my Sprint wireless contract was up in November. I was two months off. It expires on January 22nd. And that, my friends, is when the iPhone will be purchased. Coincidentally, that's three months from today.

more halloween stuff

You all know that I loves me some Martha Stewart. Well this weekend I tried three, yes three Martha Halloween crafts. First, there's the glittered pumpkin. I, of course, used the glue and glitter from Martha's craft line at Michaels. Second, there's the witch's broom candy treat bag, as featured in last month's issue of Living. Also from that issue is the sculpted spider web pumpkin. So, a fun and busy weekend. Especially after working a really long day on Saturday. And office colleagues...if you are all good, you may find one of those broom treat bags on your desk some day this week...

pumpkin day

amy was here

Amy Sedaris spoke at the library last night. We had a huge crowd. We filled every seat in the auditorium, all of the standing room, and then sat people on the floor of the stage behind Amy. Even then we still had to turn 50-70 people away. I got to see only a few minutes of her presentation. I had a chance to spend a few minutes with her earlier in the day, when she came in to check out the auditorium. She was told what a fan I was by co-workers. When she returned for the program last night, she brought me a gift. One of her home-made customized pill boxes with a photo of her character from Strangers With Candy, Jerri Blank. I shall treasure it always. She inscribed her book to Greg and me with the words, "Sorry you guys broke up." And of course, "Good Times." Today, I get the privilege of driving her to the airport. It's really cool to have the job that I have, and to get to meet some of the celebrities that I admire. After the airport, pumpkin shopping! Our nieces are coming over for pumpkin carving on Sunday. I can't wait. Oh, did I mention that I glittered a pumpkin Martha style last weekend. I did. Photos to come soon.

happy birthday & my new favorite drink

Friday night we celebrated Kathryn's birthday a few days early at Michele's. Kathryn is one of my favorite new people. She radiates happiness and friendship. Her parents are delightful too. At the party I finally tasted one of Michele's famous Beeritas. Well actually not one, I had three...then it was time to take Mike home. The Beerita consists of filling a pitcher with a bottle of Corona, a can of sprite, can of limeade concentrate and then you will the empty limeade can with tequila. Mix it all together and pour over ice. Salted rim, your choice. Delightful.

my tv top ten

Ok, so Greg and I watch a lot of TV. We are still trying to get through all the saved shows on our DVR from when we were on vacation. I got to thinking (which I sometimes do) that with the new Fall TV season upon us, I should make a list of my top 10 favorite shows that are currently on right now. (That's why Lost and Project Runway aren't listed). These are my must not miss shows. And ok, yeah, I listed 11 (there's a tie at #10). It's my blog and I can do whatever I want.

1. Friday Night Lights (NBC) I know that I've sung the praises of this show before, but you people are still not watching it. The acting is incredible. How it wasn't nominated for an Emmy astounds me. And Connie Britton, who plays the coach's wife, is probably the most realistic and well acted role on television. We watched the season premier at the beach last week. She nearly had me in tears. I was trying hard to keep the tears at bay in front of the other guys. You MUST watch this show.

2. 30 Rock (NBC) It actually won the Emmy for best comedy. There is, in fact, hilarity around every corner. And an incredible ensemble cast led by Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. But the true star is Kenneth the Page. He steals every scene he is in. I watched the first season on DVD when I was sick last month. It was so much fun, I think it helped in my recovery.

3. The Office (NBC) When Michael hit Meredith with his car in the season opener, Greg and I had to rewind it several times to see it again and again. Then when he organized the Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure. I mean come on, that's some funny stuff. What's even funnier was that the race course wasn't circular. So the end of the race was quite a distance from the office. Oh, and I really like Jim and Pam together. Though I'm sure they will be torn apart.

4. Brothers and Sisters (ABC) Sappy? Yes, and unapologetically so. And I think that's what I love most about it. Well that, and Sally Field. She can chew up some scenery with the best of them. Also, there's the gay brother that has encompassed just about every feeling that I've had in my process of coming out and being true to myself. Except for that whole dating a celebrity thing. Though Greg will always be the biggest star in my universe.

5. Chuck (NBC) A fun new show with an adorable "every-dude" playing the lead. It's my favorite new show of the season. I thought my favorite was going to Bionic Woman. The first episode was good, but the last episode was not at all as good as the first. It has been removed from our DVR recording list. (And of course, replaced with another show on in the same time slot.)

6. Reaper (CW) Yep, the CW. It's the very first show that I have watched on the CW. It's also fun, in a similar to Chuck, kind of way. In this show a guy finds out that his well meaning parents sold his soul to the devil when he was very young. Now the Devil has him finding escapees from Hell and sending them back to Hell where they belong. I know, it sounds weird, but it works as a very entertaining show. Tyler Labine plays his best bud, sidekick and provides a great deal of the comic relief.

7. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) If Friends was made today, this is what it would be like. HIMYM is just one of those shows with a perfect ensemble cast. Neil Patrick Harris as Barney is a highlight. I read earlier this fall that Robin Sparkles may make a return. Oh please, let that be true. I need a new song to replace "Let's go to the Mall," in my head.

8. Dirty Sexy Money (ABC) Trashy and really delightful. And it brings Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) back to television.

9. Big Bang Theory (CBS) This show took the time slot of one of my favorite show from last year The Class. But I still really like this show. It's all about flying your "freak/nerd" flag. Also stars Darlene's boyfriend from Roseanne. And he doesn't seem to age. Could he be the Dick Clark of our generation?

10. (tie) Martha (Syndication) and Barefoot Contessa (Food Network) Oh, my two queens of domesticity. Martha's finally found her groove on her talk/instructional show. Finally, a little less talk and more demonstration. I think that she is finally to the point in her life where she doesn't take her self too seriously. It just looks like she is having fun. Ina, you make my mouth water with every dish you make on the Barefoot Contessa. And I love meeting all of your fellow snobby friends that you invite over for lunch. Your husband Jeffery is truly a lucky man. Ina, please continue to wave you "pretentious" flag. I heart you.

back home

We left the Outer Banks just before 6 am on Sunday morning and arrived home just before 6 pm Sunday night. We had a great vacation, and have two new folks we can count among our group of friends.
Greg and I have today off work. We're going to use it to spend some time with Tucker, unpack, rest and attempt to get through the dozens of shows that our DVR recorded while we were gone. I also have a Pride Center fundraising committee meeting to go to tonight.

vacation - friday

Dagnabut, our vacation is almost over. Tomorrow, Saturday, is our last full day in the Outer Banks. Today was a very busy day. Greg, Al, Keith and Brett went out to play tennis early again. I slept in and read a bit. Tom worked on the second of the fleece blankets that he is making on vacation. Around 7:30 am our electricity went out. No storms or anything, it just went out. And so did we.
We all traveled to Duck for some more shopping then headed to Pigman's Bar-B-Que for some lunch in Kill Devil Hills. I had the Turkey-que sandwich, and it was wonderful. It also came with hushpuppies, and I've never met one of those that I didn't like. If you're looking for good Carolina bar-b-que, this is the place to stop at.
After lunch we headed to another lighthouse. You couldn't climb this one, but it was still pretty cool. And once you visited a lighthouse, what would you logically do next? That's right kids, we hit the links. Well, the miniature links, that is. It was fun. I got a hole-in-one. That's pretty exciting.
Just down the road from the golf course was the Wright Bros. Memorial. We got there an hour before it closed and checked out the site, which included a long hike up a very large 90 foot dune to see the memorial itself. There was a nice view of the ocean up there too.
Tom and Brett are in the kitchen making dinner right now. It smells very good. If you can't tell from daily blog entries, we are eating very well on this vacation. Maybe too well....there's still a lot of key lime cheesecake in the refrigerator that needs to be eaten before we leave on Sunday morning.

i heart this game

After a 3 hour game with the guys, I prevailed as the winner of Phase 10. I'm not a great card player, so this was quite the feet.

vacation - thursday

Greg began the morning early playing tennis with Al, Keith and Brett. I slept in, then biked over to the tennis court and watched a bit. Later in the morning we all headed to the beach. Greg went out into the ocean and attempted to boogie board. Yes that's right folks, I live with Sporty Spice. After a while, I had had enough of nature and headed back inside. Greg and I headed back down to Duck and had lunch at the delightful Red Sky Cafe. It was very nice. We then headed to the grocery store and picked up a few ingredients for dinner. I made Greg's mom's chili. Oh, almost forgot. Before dinner we headed to the lighthouse in Corolla. It's the closest to us. It's made of red bricks. There were several wonderful shops nearby that we browsed.

vacation - wednesday part two

As stated in my post from earlier today, we went on a sunset cruise through the sound this evening. It was a great time. So relaxing sailing on a sail boat. After the cruise we had dinner at Miller's on the Waterfront. I ordered the all you can eat popcorn shrimp. I know it's a twelve-year old's meal, but it was dang tasty. Following are pictures from this evening's voyage.

vacation - wednesday

Slept in a little later this morning. Greg and I decided to do some exploring and shopping this morning. We headed to Nags Head. I wanted to pick up the Annie Lennox CD that came out yesterday. It is very enjoyable, by the way. We also stopped at Sonic (Hi Megan) for breakfast. We each had a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast burrito and some tots. It was good. Some nice crispy bacon. We then spent some time at the nearby outlet mall. They didn't have many shops there, but it was still nice.
We headed back up north towards to the beach house and stopped in the quaint village of Duck. There were quite a few cute specialty shops there. My favorite was The Urban Cottage. It is exactly the type of shop I would love to own. There were way too many things there that I would have loved to purchase. I picked up some almond cocoa scented candles. Tonight we are going on a boat ride and out to eat at one of the area seafood places. More updates on that later. Right now Greg's down in our room reading, and I think I'm heading out to the deck to work on reading more of my book as well.

vacation - tuesday

We had quite the eventful day today. Woke up early and headed 80 miles to the southern Outer Banks for breakfast. A husband of a friend at work told Greg all about the apple uglies at the Orange Blossom Bakery. There was no way this vacation was going to end before Greg got one. They were tasty, but we all decided that the basic glazed donuts were the best at the bakery. That's a picture of me getting ready to eat my ugly. Thanks Tom for taking the picture, I think.
After breakfast we took the ferry to Ocracoke Island. That was an experience, driving the car onto the ferry for the 30 minute ride to the Island. On the island we visited some shops, a light house and had a nice lunch at Howard's Pub (hush puppies are tasty).
On the return ferry ride our car's battery died. After my short panic attack, the ferry shipmen jumped my battery (no comments, please) and we tore off back up the Outer Banks to find a place to get a new battery. The car was probably way over due for a new battery. We found a Napa Auto Parts and Greg got all handy and switched out the old battery for a new one. He's my hero.
We got home, destressed in the hot tub and had a great dinner of mexican pizzas made by Tom and Brett. Also enjoyed delightful martini's courtesy of Brett and marguarita's from Keith. Here's to a less stressful day tomorrow...

vacation - our digs

We're staying in the first house on the left. Tom and Brett did a great job picking out the place. The crow's nest on top is terrific for viewing the sunrise in the morning and the stars at night.

vacation - the gang

Al, Keith, Brett, Tom, Me & Greg

vacation begins

We left Akron on Saturday morning and caravaned down to Frederick, Maryland with Tom and Brett. It was a nice five hour drive. And yes, of course, Greg did all the driving. Sunday morning, Tom and Brett drove to Norfolk to pick up Al and Keith. Greg and I traveled to Virgina Beach to visit where Greg spent some time when he was younger. After a quick drive through the area and a 20 minute wait for two burgers at a McDonald's, we continued our trek towards the Outer Banks. Arriving just after 4 pm. (And this time, I actually drove for about 2 hours.) We found the house easily and moved all our stuff into our room. The house is great, very large and right on the beach. There is a constant breeze coming on shore from the ocean that makes the temperature very pleasant. We headed down to the beach and got our feet a little wet in the ocean. At first it was a bit cold, but shortly after became bearable.
This morning we climbed to the crow's nest at the top of the house and witnessed the sun rise on the horizon over the Atlantic Ocean. It was very pretty. Greg had noticed that it was getting lighter outside, so we rushed to the crow's nest a little early. About forty minutes later the sun began to rise. I snapped some pictures, it was really kinda cool.
We began reading some of the books we brought with us. Greg is reading Hero and I'm reading Cabin Pressure. I read Hero last month. It was a great read. We checked out some of the shopping in the area. Greg bought a new pair of sun glasses. I bought candy.
So far a very relaxing vacation. Tomorrow we're going to check out the area some more and visit the lighthouses.