They're baaaaack!

Students, that is. In full force. And they bring with them scheduling changes, computer problems, forgotten passwords, WyoWeb trauma, or other stress-inducing drama. Yuck. I was in my office for 11 hours yesterday. 9.5 today. Today I found myself wishing for the Denver job again, so there would be a light at the end tunnel instead of over the big mountain waaaaay over there. But I have found bright spots...usually when someone I adore makes me smile, and I realize I don't have to be separated from them JUST YET. Oh, and there's my new project.

What new project, you ask? I am going to write a book. I had an epiphany. In the shower, while getting ready to go to my birthday party. It shall be fabulous, touching, informative, and provocative. I have already had a generous offer of editing from the Rev. And an echo from Mandyfish. It will be autobiographical. And commentative. Perhaps even bits of verse. So...if you don't want your real name used...speak up! ;)

Oh yeah...and I played with Adobe Illustrator tonight. What do you think of the new blog picture?

Well, at least I know now

The good news is that I don't have to try to sell the house in a month. The bad news is that I didn't get the job. :( I'm doing okay. I have a house, a job, and a family here. There will be other opportunities down the road. I think perhaps this job was the Universe's way of getting me ready and showing me that I can make it happen, and in short order if I need to. Thanks to everyone for their support and positive thoughts. It's been a wild ride, and having you all behind me has changed me in powerful ways. I've not felt something so touching since wearing wings. I love you all.

On the edge of another birthday

I just finished watching the Daily Show. I want to marry Jon Stewart. He's nerdy hot, super smart, and funny as fuck. Scotty was here earlier. We bitched about our days, drank a glass of wine, and watched Who Wants to be a Superhero. Because it requires no thought and there's nothing else on Thursdays, that's why.

Tomorrow at 8:32am I'll be thirty-wonderful. I'm pretty okay with it, I think. Maybe I just have too much stress and chaos going on to worry about another year gone by. I don't have word on the job. I emailed her tonight. Wouldn't a job offer be a great birthday present? Students are back. Work sucks. I want to spend tomorrow having cocktails instead of changing password, changing schedules, and trying to control the fist of death. I love Dilbert.

I'm stream of consciousness-y tonight, not profound. I should have some words of wisdom on the edge of another birthday. About aging. About changing. Growing. Living. Dying. Love. Eh. I'm on break for a minute. So let's just go to karaoke on Saturday at 9pm. Library Bar. They know we're coming. We are taking over again. Tres Guerilla Bar, Laramie Style.

Big Gay Jim. Another year older. Going to bed. At 10pm. Because it's a school night. Damn I'm old. ;) And I want a job. For my birthday. It's a wish!

A chance to thank Judy Shepard

I don't usually deal in chain letter type messages. However, I think this one is well worth it and is something I feel very strongly about. Below is an email that Dennis Shepard sent to Dave O'Malley and Rob Debree (the lead investigators in Matt's murder). Judy has been nominated for the "Volvo For Life Awards," which recognizes community heroes for the work they do. Judy is a finalist for the state of Wyoming. While receiving a Volvo for life would be a wonderful way to thank Judy for her tireless efforts to erase hate across the country, there are also cash awards for charities that would no doubt be more important to her. At any rate, I encourage everyone to go to the link below and vote for Judy. I can think of nobody more deserving. And as Dennis says, please help get the word out about this (apologies to anyone who receives this multiple times/from lists). Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

*****
From: Shepard, Dennis W
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 2:33 AM
Hi,
I might be jumping the gun on this but I wanted to get it out as soon as possible. I think the Foundation is going to send something out officially anyway.

Judy has been nominated for recognition representing the State of Wyoming. I'd appreciate it if you would vote for her on as many computers as you can and as often as they will let you.

Go to the address below, click on Wyoming on the US map, then click on the box next to her name before submitting your vote. I may be prejudiced but I think she deserves the recognition because of what she does, what she's fighting for, and who she's fighting for.

http://www.volvoforlifeawards.com/cgi-bin/iowa/english/vote/index.html#search

I'd also appreciate it if you would pass this along to your friends and ask them to vote as many times as possible.

Thanks from me for Judy.

Job hunt update

I emailed DU about the job today, and received the following response:

Jim, thanks for the message. We are meeting as a committee tomorrow to make recommendations for a final candidate. We hope to then make reference checks and make an offer by Monday or Tuesday. We will be in touch with you either way.

Now you know as much as I do. Have I mentioned I hate waiting? ;)

Pins and needles

I'm not a patient person by nature. I don't wait well. And so not hearing anything about the job is...well...killing me! I understand that the hiring process is frought with delays and red tape. I know that the 14th was a "target date" to offer the position. But those who know me well understand that my brain spins around my head at highly unsafe speeds. Most people have REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. I think I have RPM sleep. No, I have not yet heard anything. Paranoia is setting in, slowly but surely. Well, maybe not so slowly. If I haven't heard anything by noon tomorrow, I shall email my prosepective supervisor and inquire about the timeline. Asking if I got the job is considered rude, and not something I want to do. Asking about the notification timeline, on the other hand, is wholly acceptable.

In the meantime, I'm trying to distract myself. Work helps a great deal, as it's that crazy-you-don't-want-to-be-around-me-I-hate-student-employees-you-really-forgot-your-password-after-one-month-paperwork-sucks time of year. (Say that 5 times fast.) And now I'm pausing to announce the birthday plans!

That's right kiddies...on Saturday, August 26th at 9pm we shall commence with karaoke to celebrate my turning thiry-wonderful. Don't worry...next year I expect to have my fourth annual 29th birthday, but since Denver Mary gave me such a cute term, I thought I'd try it out this year. We will meet at the Library Bar in Laramie, WY (sorry to Britt and all the other much-loved under-21's in my life...a little birdie suggested a night of karaoke and it seemed PERFECT). The actual date of birth is not the 26th, but Saturday is when they do the whole drunken sing-along thing. And the guy in charge said he'd love to sponsor my birthday party. ;)

Gifts are not required. Cocktails are much appreciated. For those who feel compelled to gift-ify, please contact Scott Roberts. He's agreed to coordinate donations toward two things which would make me smile. 1) A really nifty set of lighted LED poi balls that shift in color through the rainbow. They're fun. 2) Remaining donations will be used to purchase my very own karaoke machine and CD's. I spent today finding choice CD's at Amazon.com, and had a ball...for 10 whole minutes! If you don't know how to contact Mr. Roberts, let me know. I don't want to publish his info on the blog for fear he'll be spammed by an address-grabbing-web-crawling-bot.

So there's the fun news (and my current distraction) for the day. Please bear with me as I continue to wait for word on the job, and loathe the start-of-semester junk I'm in which I find myself immersed.

What a difference some gays make...

...and a bisexual. And a straight guy. Once again I have proof: I have the best friends ever. Though the work on the house is far from done, yesterday was a giant leap for the outside. The back yard has been trimmed, hoed, redesigned, and cleaned up. In the front, the large juniper is now 2, and the roses can actually be seen. We trimmed up a lot of the trees, and the smaller juniper is trimmed back as well. We weeded, pruned, and whipped it back into shape.

My stress level is much lower now, as I can see someone looking at the yard and not running away screaming if they wanted to buy the house. There's still work to do on the inside, and plenty more to finish up outside. But in one day a group of amazing people helped knock out the bulk of the work outside. I freely admit it: I cried when I saw the improvement.

Today I hurt, though. We started working at about 11am. We worked in the rain, in the wind, and in the sun. We finished around 7pm. I know I worked muscles I didn't know I had, and I'm sure everyone else did as well. So if you're bored some night, let me know. There are more things to do, and help will ALWAYS be much appreciated.

And I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who sent along a desire to help even though they didn't have the ability. Intent means more, and I thank you too. Cross your fingers for me tomorrow. (Sheesh I hope they're on schedule and call tomorrow; the waiting is killing me!)

Call for help!

Since there's a chance I'll be moving south for the winter...well, within a month or so, I have started to engage in hard core productivity around the house. In small stages, of course. ;) I've cleaned out the pantry, purging more than 55 gallons (I love the big contractor trash bags!) of out dated, stale, or undesired junk. There's extra room in the pantry, and it's clean! I was truly inspired by the success, so I continued last night. I mowed the yard, sprayed some of the shrubbery in the backyard with an anti-bug treatment, and finally removed the bird's nest from the garage light (the robin's eggs didn't hatch, and she abandoned the nest). Then I cleaned out one of the bedroom closets, throwing away a lot of old socks, ripped up shirts, etc. and collecting a HUGE laundry load's worth of clothes for good will. The other closet (and maybe dresser) are on tap for tonight.

So here's the call for help! Rather than going to Denver and playing this weekend, I plan to get dirty in the yard. The flower beds need some serious weeding, digging, pruning, etc. If the weather will cooperate, I would love all the help I can get. There will be plenty to do! I'm going to try to rake the yard this week, but there will be weeds to pull, etc. I can't offer much, but I'll provide dinner for any stalwart would-be gardeners. Drop me a line if you can help. I'll likely start early, around 10am or so, in an effort to beat the heat, the bugs, and the afternoon rain! Bring trowels, etc. if you have them. Let me know if you're coming though, so I can plan accordingly. Smooches to all the bitches!

Interview update

Things went very well, I think. I met with some students from the Queer Straight Alliance, an interview committee, the Assistant Provost, and the Queer Ally Coalition. It is a brand new position on campus. I met the people I'd be working with, the people I'd be working for, and a few others in between. I really liked them all, and am excited about the position and the potential it has. They are interviewing a total of 4 people. The last interview is being done on the 10th. Johanna, the supervisor, hopes to make an offer around the 14th. Keep your fingers crossed!

And for the record...I have the best friends on the planet. Thanks to everyone for the emails, blog comments, myspace comments, and text messages of support. It means SO much to me.