You talkin' to me?

I was sitting at Starbucks last night, minding my own business, reading my book about Jesus' teenage years, when a customer walks in. As is the custom, everytime someone walks in you quickly glance up at them. Well, I do this and he looks at me with this big shit-eating grin and says (rather loudly), "Oh! There you are."

I had no idea who this man was, so I am sure I had a rather odd look on my face. He realizes that he mistook me for someone else and apologizes profusely. He said that I looked exactly like the guy he was going to meet. Well, now the Alicia, Ben (Starbucks employees), and I can't wait to see my twin. The guy hangs out for a little bit, not purchasing coffee, then goes outside to meet someone on the sidewalk. HE LOOKED NOTHING LIKE ME!! Ok, sure, he had dark blonde/light brown short hair, but that was about it. They talk for a minute then leave.

The moral of the story is: when you are going to Starbucks to meet your internet gay sex hook-up, be sure you know well enough what he looks like before you talk to strangers.

Maybe I should post a Missed Connection on Craigslist and see what happens.

Fufluns

Fufluns is an Etruscan god closely related to Bacchus and Dionysus; the god of the Grape and Fertility. Who gives their gods names like "Fufluns?" Seriously! No wonder the Roman decimated the Etruscans.

A very good friend of mine leaves today for 6 weeks on an Etruscan archaeological dig in Tuscany. Life will be considerably less exciting without her around all summer. Its funny how you grow to depend on people. We weren't very close until this past year, when her imaginary boyfriend and my imaginary girlfriend moved away...then we only had each other. Over the course of a year, you just become accumstomed to seeing that person, talking to that person, knowing that when you need something they will be there. Its hard when you first realize that that is temporarily gone. I reminded me of last year when my roommate left. All of a sudden I was on my own; I didn't have that constant companion; the house was quiet. You always get used to the change, but it is difficult at first and you don't like it much. Things are like that for a couple of days, but then you get over it and life goes on.

Words I hate

Guesstimate, and all its derivatives.

Pronunciation: 'ges-t&-m&t
Function: noun
Etymology: blend of guess and estimate
: an estimate usually made without adequate information

Isn't "an estimate made without adequate information" simply a guess?

From the OED: 1936 N.Y. Times 22 Dec., ‘Guesstimates’ is the word frequently used by the statisticians and population experts. 1943 N.Y. Times 19 July 4/6 Many Americans..think the Axis..will be defeated in less than two years. Intangibles..might make this popular ‘guestimate’ close to correct. 1948 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LII. 614/2 The former is a firm figure which arises in fact. The latter is an arbitrary ‘guesstimate’. 1957 R. WATSON-WATT Three Steps to Victory liii. 316 This mixture of estimates and guestimates comes out better than we deserve, for the Opana clock was very unlikely to agree with whatever clocks and watches were consulted in the aircraft and in Pearl Harbor. 1967 New Scientist 24 Aug. 373/2 Faced with engineering problems of this magnitude, £20 million is likely to prove as elusive a ‘guesstimate’ as the original figure for Concord. 1970 Daily Tel. 1 Oct. 19 (Advt.), £1000 tax free clear profit... This is proved performancenot an optimistic guesstimate.

Hence guesstimate (-et) v. trans. and intr., guesstimation, guesstimator.

1937 D. C. T. BENNETT Compl. Air Navigator v. 152 ‘Guess-timation’ is an art in navigation which should not generally be encouraged. 1942 BERREY & VAN DEN BARK Amer. Thes. Slang §179.5 Guesstimate, blend of ‘guess’ and ‘estimate’. 1943 in Amer. Speech (1944) XIX. 149/2 At no time in the past has so much depended upon the correct guesstimation of the tactical requirements of the future. 1948 Elks Mag. Oct. 11 One conservative guesstimator predicts 375,000 [television] sets in the country by January 1. 1950 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LIV. 175/1 50,000 lb...he had arrived at by a bit of ‘guesstimating’. 1969 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 31 Jan. 32/3 The experts can ‘guesstimate’ how much gas is there [sc. under the North Sea], but there is no sure way of telling.

Naturally the first usage of it would be American.

The evils of email

I applied for a scholarship from my employer to help with my Masters degree. I have been anxiously awaiting their decision, thinking that I had a pretty good chance at getting it. I found out today that because a part of the application was missing, I wasn't even considered.

I am sure this was my fault and I just forgot to put all parts of the application in the envelope--although I swear that I did--and I swear that I checked to make sure everything was there several times. Still, something was missing.

You would think that someone could have let me know if something was missing before the application was turned over to the committee, but apparently this was hoping for too much.

When I found out about their decision, I questioned it myself, then forwarded the responded email to my boss, with an attached comment blowing of some steam at those involved in the process. With the best of intentions my boss also questions the decision, but he included my rant in his letter to the powers-that-be.

Things just aren't working out too well. At least I have calmed down enough where I am not shaking with fury anymore....and that's a good thing.

Liza One Note

Not trying to too strongly fit the stereotype of the gay man, I went to a Liza Minelli concert Wednesday night. Now, I am not a big fan of Liza’s; however, she is something of an icon and Lord knows there was going to be excellent people-watching at this event. Rarely do you get to see aging gay men rubbing elbows with rich old people and society folk. Anywhere where there are either gay men or society people, there will be some interesting clothing choices, including the sheer green "dress" with the saftey pin design and the man carrying the sequined Louis Vuitton evening bag a la Blanche Devereaux.

It was one of the most surreal evenings I have ever experienced. The concert itself was actually quite good...she is nothing if not an entertainer. It was a benefit for a local charity, so after everyone got through congratulating themselves, the magic began.

I would never have believed it had I not seen it for myself, but she really is a living charicature of herself. She mentioned "mama" and everyone applauded. She forgot the words to a song, stopped to look at the music and everyone applauded. She swivelled her bionic hips and everyone applauded.

Is it wrong that I enjoyed myself?

Blog virginus et alia

This is my first endeavor with blogging. We'll see how it goes.

The title is my favorite Latin word, spelled the Medieval Latin way. If you have been paying attention, there have already seen several references to 'Medieval' and 'Latin' and this is only the 4th sentence. Yes, I am a big medieval studies nerd, but most of you already knew this. I have a 14th-century soul and if I believe my chakra cleanser/energy worker/herbalist it goes all the way back to Celtic times, which is also not a surprise for those of you who know me.

I decided to create this blog out of sheer boredom, actually. My boss has been gone for the past two days, and after 3pm I am the only one in the office. While there are many times I crave to have nothing to do, to much of a good thing is really aggravating. Also, there seem to be some big changes looming on the horizon of my life, so I figured it might be a good idea to start keeping track of these things somehow. I have never been consistent with keeping a journal so hopes are not too high for the longevity of this blog...but then again, I may surprise myself. Stay tuned.

PS. 21 April 753 BC was the day that Rome was founded. Happy 2758^th Birthday Eternal City!!