Stood up at Starbucks...

...So I have time to blog.

WTF! Has it really been since January? I keep promising to update more and never do. Well I am a nice guy; no one said I was reliable too. Last time I posted we were heading in to Reelout. I am happy to report it was a phenomenal success. I waited for the disasters but they never came. Sure there were a couple kinks along the way but all were quickly resolved or had no visible impact. I can honestly say I am pretty proud of what we accomplished. It was a lot of hard work by many people but so well worth it. Now we are already planning for Reelout 12 and I know we learned lots to help us make it even better.

I was very lucky to meet and spend time with some awesome filmmakers over the week and I am pretty proud that I managed to see 54 of the 58 feature length and short films that we brought to Kingston. I very much make it a point to not see the movies ahead of time and try to work the festival in a manner that allows me to see the movies. I make it a point to buy a pass and see all the movies I can. That way I will go see things that I normally wouldn't see. As a community we are small and we tend to divide further by gender. I like to make a point of checking out the lesbian movies and I like to see the women come out to see the guy's movies too. In fact the women do seem to make more of an effort to see a broader range of movies. So guys, get out there and check out lesbianism, don't let them show us up.

Reelout 11

It has been way too long since I posted anything here. Crazy. I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you all about Reelout. For a few years now I have been enjoying Kingston's very own queer film festival. While enjoying it last year I, of course, was critical of the organization behind it. At some point I decided it was time to stop bitching about it and about the queer community in general, and step up and contribute. So what I did then was become a member of the Board of Directors for Reelout. We had many challenges but with less than two weeks till our opening night I think I can safely say the chaos is in hand. I can also safely say that due to a lot of hard work by a lot of dedicated people Reelout 11 is going to be an incredible festival.

My plan is to do contribute as much before and after the screenings so I can actually enjoy the festival itself. I have high hopes that this will be Reelout's most successful year to date. Till next year...

Kids Again

On the first or second day we went to the beach I commented to my siblings that it would be nice to have Mom and Dad on the beach watching us having fun in the water. I admitted that it was a "kid" thing to say but we all did agree. Yesterday while we were out at Stone Island Mom said she enjoyed watching us as it reminded her of when we were kids. I thought was pretty funny given my earlier comment. She said they were counting heads from time to time just like they used to do when we went to North Beach as kids.

So we have been doing some shopping off and on but so far the only thing I have bought is a hat. I know eh, me not buying stuff is pretty weird. Mom and Dad bought us all something for their anniversary even though we tried to explain that wasn't how it worked. They bought me a silver pendant, a cross of sorts. Oh I also bought vanilla for Freda, enough to keep her baking for years to come. Other than that it has been mostly just food. My 500 Pesos per day budget has been rolling over quite nicely. Hopefully the shopping will pick up today and tomorrow.

Just to let you know I got up at about 7AM and came outside and am sitting on the patio writing this blog. So beautiful here.

Fun in the sun.

I just can't think that it gets any better than this. The ocean is so warm and we have had such a blast playing around in it. It has been like being kids again. Only we are not fighting like we used to. Not even bickering. There has been plenty of teasing though. In my family if you do something dumb it will never be forgotten. We will bring it up any chance we get.

Anyway, having a blast. Wish you were here...

P.S: I had my first Starbucks Vanilla Latte in Mexico yesterday.

Blogging from Mexico

Well as promised I am blogging from Mexico. You doubted it would happen. I doubted it would happen on my first night here, but here it is. All I can tell you about so far is the voyage. There are a couple funny stories.

Going through security at Calgary on our way to Mexico I was "randomly" selected for a personal search. The security guy actually admitted that he chose me because from a distance he though I might be Maynard James Keenan from Tool. Well once he flagged me he was committed. There is not much of me that he didn't touch in the process. In retrospect I figure I could have ended the whole process had I told him something like how he touched me in ways my boyfriend never did. That would have been funny.

Before we boarded the plane my sister though she would pick up a few little bottles of vodka to have on the flight. They sell it right there in the terminal and tell you you can take it on the plane. Makes sense that you could drink it on the plane too right? NOT. I was advised that it was not allowed. Oddly though when the steward came back around he asked if I wanted another vodka and O.J. and when I declined he asked if I was sure and said it was on him. I still declined but still ponder his motivation for wanting to buy me a drink. People are fun to try and figure out.

Next blog I will discuss my thoughts regarding young children on airplanes. Stay tuned.

Vacation Mode

Tomorrow I am leaving for Mexico, via Calgary oddly enough. I will be heading to Ottawa around noon tomorrow to hook up with the sisters and we fly out at 7:30PM. First stop is Calgary for the night where we will be meeting up with the brother. Friday at noon we are on our way to Mexico where the folks are waiting. We are all getting together in Mexico to celebrate the parents 50^th Wedding Anniversary on November 14^th.

Getting together with the family should be fun if the Down East trip is any indication. Being on a beach in the sun will be a very welcome change from work. Mom has some excursions planned but I think we were clear that we did not want the entire 8 days crammed full of stuff to do. We all work and I think we would all love some down time while we are there. I have already scoped out the Starbucks though I think it is a good hike from Mom and Dad’s place. I’m sure I will find an appropriate coffee shop where I can grab a cappuccino and read for a bit if I need to get away.

At any rate the folks have stocked up on Rum, Tequila and Vodka so I’m sure we’ll all be able to stay pretty happy.

So now all I have to do is get through the next 6.5 hours till I am done work. Not as easy as it seems since I realize I checked out sometime yesterday and am now in full on Vacation Mode. That makes it hard to concentrate on work and also explains why I am blogging instead of working.

Next blog will come to you from Mexico.

Books or Blogs, I can't seem to manage both

I have been reading a lot lately, mostly at my favourite reading spot which is the front window table at Starbucks. That is also my favourite place to blog. The books have been winning out though, hence no blogs lately.

The book I am reading right now is about the Bible and homosexuality. It basically covers literal and historical context interpretation of the writings. Literal interpretation favoured by the fundamentalist is obvioulsy just plain scary.

My biggest revelation however has been that an otherwise intelligent, educated person can truly believe that god actually wrote the Bible, albeit through man.