I paid $50 for Live Scan, getting my fingerprints electronically scanned for employment at one of the local community college districts as required by the California Department of Justice. It doesn’t matter that I’ve done this for another district in the county a few years ago. As an adjunct instructor, I can pay several times over for the privilege of being fingerprinted like a common criminal.
July, 2007
25
Jul 07
Eureka, Season 2: Unpredictable
Warning: This post contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen this episode, don’t read and wait for a re-run or download from iTunes.
The weather takes some strange turns in Eureka and so do some people’s sex lives, as the case of the week turns up. A naked man’s death at a fission powered spa turns up a few affairs, including one with the wife of a scientist who literally creates microclimates. The case also reveals some creative meteorology.
Collecting evidence has never been so scary as when Carter and Jo deal with using a piece of the dead man’s body (after he’s been flash frozen and shattered) to ID him. How can they be sure one body part is a thumb?
Carter must deal with the ex-wife, who seems to like having tactical advantages over him. In this case, it is the custody issue regarding Zoe. Strangely, there isn’t much interaction between the ex and Beverly, the local shrink, even though she’s put up at her place. Beverly has an agenda of her own: prevent Henry from working for Global. She gets a phone call and Season 1’s finale hints she’s getting instructions from a someone in the future, perhaps Stark’s future counterpart.
Allison makes the executive decision to clear Henry, which may bring a “Once in a Lifetime” kind of timeline. Carter may find himself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife after all. Or perhaps not. Nathan Stark, handsome in his unemployed persona (no tie, more casual), doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave Eureka.
There is also some revelation of the Artifact that affects Allison on a personal level. Stay tuned.
No skin shots of Carter, but his uniform is more form fitting this week. Bad fashion choice at the end – beige sweater. His lack of fashion sense is just a surface indicator of what defines him against his opponent Nathan Stark, who is much smarter and more impeccably dressed, even in casual mode.
Eureka should be available some time tomorrow on iTunes. Next week, true to a Star Trek trope, people disappear into never-existence until only Carter is left. Before that happens, we get confirmation the diner chef is gay.
Update: Catch full episode of Unpredictable on the Sci Fi Channel. The episode is also available on iTunes.
24
Jul 07
Rough Trade
This one was taken on Saturday, the main day of Pride weekend, after the parade. A friend of mine and I were leaving Top of the Park when I saw this shirtless guy waiting at the corner of Park Manor. He’s been waiting around for God knows who for God knows how long. I didn’t want to know. I just took the picture.
24
Jul 07
Drive-by Shooting
This is a drive-by, but no blood involved. I was driving around University Heights on the way to Hillcrest during Pride weekend and saw this guy walking to his car. I took this photo from the driver’s seat.
24
Jul 07
Some Pics from my friend Jaylen
Here are some pics from my friend Jaylen when he borrowed my camera when we were hanging out at Cheers after the Erasure show. Pictured in this order are my friend Scott, me with Jaylen, and Jaylen with Amber.
Check out some more pics on Flickr.
24
Jul 07
Would you take dating advice from a man in a fuzzy hat?
Straight men must be hopeless if they get advice on how to pick up women from a man in a bad hat. I thought that kind of cheesy costuming went out in the late 1990′s, but I’m apparently wrong. Here is a pic of some kid in a similarly horrible hat:
23
Jul 07
San Diego Pride Weekend
Yes, I’m using a tactic to boost ratings that Chris, Brian, and I love so much: a show of skin. Usually, one picture suffices, but I’ve treated you to a triptych. Oh, and there is a point to this. It was Pride Weekend in San Diego and there was no shortage of skin. There were plenty of clothed people, but posting nearly naked men is more fun.
My friends Scott, Jaylen, and Kay staked out a table in Starbuck’s outdoor patio on University and Cleveland at 9:00am, Saturday morning. Some more friends would join them, but I could only chat with them briefly. I was marching with St. Paul’s Cathedral in the parade. I would see them when the St. Paul’s group passed by them.
Since I was marching with St. Paul’s, that meant waiting for a couple of hours at the Hillcrest DMV before the parade. There were approximately 50-60 people who showed up to march, which was a larger turnout from the two or three previous years. Integrity had organized the parade contingent in the past; however, this was the first time the Cathedral was wholly represented. Many of the gay membership was present, but many others showed up to show their support. Clergy also participated. The Reverend Canon Allisyn Thomas (pictured with Martin holding the Gay Agenda sign) has long dreamed of having a large fantastic float, something that represents the Cathedral. No big float yet, but there were two silver convertibles and plenty of people for starters. Hopefully, Allisyn can have her float next year and will be big and fabulous.
Left to right: The Reverend Canon Andrew Rank, St. Paul’s members, the Very Reverend Scott Richardson and the Reverend Canon Allisyn Thomas, my friend Daniel and me, one of the cars used for the parade.
Since waiting for the parade to begin took a couple of hours, I wandered (not too far) and took some pictures. A fun float a few places ahead of us was Hairspray Salon, which had a Flintstones theme this year:
I couldn’t resist catching these t-shirt captions:
Left: We know what he likes. Right: We know how he likes it.
Here are some people I met during my wandering around:
Left to right: Me with Scott from MCC (not to be confused with my other friend Scott), Priest with Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, me with Miss San Diego Rodeo, and some Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
When it came time for the parade to start, Tutti of Lipps sent us off with a bang. She bantered with us about the time when Lipps was across the street from St. Paul’s, how Lipps is now the holiest place in their new location, and what does one call a female priest: priestess? priestessess? priest? At certain points, commentators told the spectators of the floats, but Tutti was the most fun.
Tutti of Lipps sends St Paul’s off.
Our group was very well received on the parade route. Well, not by everyone:
These nutjobs show up on 8th and University every year. This is the one spot protesters are allowed their First Amendment rights. Their numbers used to be larger, but it seems like the really cute, but loudly homophobic guys came out of the closet and left. Who knows? Hopefully, they will get love wherever they find it. They certainly won’t find it behind a horse’s ass.
After the parade, I got to meet in person Ted, one of my blog friends. Ted was one of the first people I “met” out in the blogosphere” earlier this year when I began interacting with other bloggers on a regular basis. He’s a writer, teacher, anthroplogist, doctoral candidate, a fellow holder of an MFA, and along with his husband, an editor of From Boys to Men: Gay Men Write About Growing Up. I got to meet his partner Rob, who will be a co-worker of mine in the fall, and I got to meet a mutual acquaintance of ours I haven’t seen in years. Our interaction was brief, but I don’t think I’ve seen the last of Ted.
No pride event is complete without token straight boys. God bless them, especially when they’re cute. This guy was in front of me in line at Chipotle’s on 7th and University and I couldn’t resist taking his picture. One of his girlfriends helped me out with taking this pic by telling him to own what’s written on his arm. After I got this pic and ordered my burrrito, I met my friends for lunch. Chipotle’s was crowded and we couldn’t sit with our group for a while, so Scott, Daniel, and I sat outside. After a while, we joined the rest of the group inside and met up with Amber and Julie, who could only be there for a short while.
The festival was like any other festival I’ve been to, only bigger. This time, the grounds extended to 6th and Laurel and there were more beer gardens than before. As usual, there were many obscure bands, but the headlining band was Erasure on Sunday night.
Like the True Colors set of a month ago, Erasure’s set was a truncated one. Given that is was more practical to take a minimalist approach, Andy Bell and Vince Clark avoided the flamboyant theatrical devices that typically accompany their shows. While Bell and company didn’t do many costume changes, they did have some interesting outfits. Bell and Clark wore Andy Warhol patterns. Vince Clark had a Debbie Harry t-shirt underneath his jacket, while Andy Bell sported a Warhol print of Debbie Harry on his silver jacket. Vince Clark masqueraded as Andy Warhol with his wig, and the back-up divas wore fluorescent cheongsams and wigs to match. They played material from their new album along with some standard crowd pleasers from the 1980′s, but Erasure delivered a show that ultimately satisfied festival goers.
See more of my Pride pictures on Flickr.
20
Jul 07
Expensive Downers
I got this lovely yellow piece of paper two months ago. I originally needed to get it dealt with a month ago, but I got an extension. Yesterday, I paid a near $400 fee to process the option to get the citation cleared through traffic school.
I got the ticket when I was at an all time low this year. I lost my job at the mailroom earlier this year and I was having little luck getting another job. I was making some headway with getting my foot in the door with some of the schools, but I would have to wait for that to happen. I simply felt very demoralized by my situation and was oblivious to running a red light sometime in May.
That night, I hung out at my mother’s house and drove home late that night. I shouldn’t have gone home all. Stupidly, I drove on home in the middle of the night because I wanted to sleep in my own bed at my own place.
Brandi, a friend of mine from the MFA program, has a word for the funk I was feeling at the time: schmeh*. I wasn’t aware how schmeh I was feeling until I had a conversation with the cop who pulled me over. I have to admit, I put a lot of it out of my mind at the time. I guess I was (dis)functionally schmeh.
However, my downer episode turned out to be an expensive one. I can’t stop thinking about what I could do with $400, but that cash is out of my hands. I’m just lucky I have the option of going to traffic school to clear this ticket. Some of my friends tell me I can take care of this online, but I’m going to deal with the hassle of real time traffic school. If I paid this much money, I might as well get a post out of it.
Four years ago, I had to go to traffic school for violating a street sign on Eight & Ash. I crossed it when it said not to cross. Now, the intersection has a traffic light that enables drivers to cross Ash, so I occasionally get irritated when I remember getting caught and cited. Getting to the school, I lost about eight hours of a Saturday to “Gay and Lesbian” traffic school, which was taught by a seventy-ish Jewish woman who happened to sell real estate. She was decked out in Louis Vuitton: a silk windbreaker, sneakers, purse, and even cigarette and business card holders. She said she liked gays and lesbians because they were better educated, nicer than most, and they usually had a lot of money. We all quickly came to the conclusion she took the traffic school gig to drum up her clientele.
Once she got her openly crass agenda out of the way, she had us share something about ourselves (I think she was also an ex-school teacher) and asked us questions about us, especially if we liked anyone in the class.
She also wrote a chapbook about subverting traffic laws, among many things, that she was selling in the class. I bought a copy, but I don’t remember what I did with it.
I wonder if she still teaches the class or if there’ll be another character in her place. I’ll see. Stay tuned.
*Brandi, if you’re reading this, let me know if this is the correct spelling.
20
Jul 07
I Just Got Memed!
I went through my feeds this afternoon, and I found that Ted tagged me with this meme. I’ve done a something like this before, but the number was 10, not eight. What I post are supposed to eight random facts, habits, etc. Ted does have a point that these eight random things aren’t so random as they are odd or ironic. Before I start, here are the rules of this game:
- I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
- Shindo, my nom d’Internet, was originally my pen name when I was 16 years old. Two of my friends in high school put together a punk rock/gothic fanzine and they used Bauhaus-related pseudonyms: Weimar and Dessau. For me, they christened me Shindo, which is a play on Shin, but also has more of an exotic ring to it. Well, it’s more catchy. In the late 1990’s, I had several blah titles for my website until I remembered my adolescent nom de plume and used it to coin ShindoTV, a title I’ve used ever since
- When I was a 17 year old student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, I almost cost myself and my classmates our balcony privileges. The San Diego location is housed in a Downtown high rise across the street from Spreckles Theatre and the eighth floor balcony (more like a terrace) is where everyone – anyone who works in the high rise and FIDM students, faculty, and staff can go there to take a break. During some breaks and lunches, I would do things such as sit on the ledge or prance around close to that level’s rooftop vents. The powers that be, needless to say, weren’t too happy to observe my antics so they sent a note to FIDM to be published in the daily student bulletin. The language kept the warning very general and I was referred to as “some students,” but my classmates all knew I was the offender. When my Design Fundamentals instructor read that note, my friend Lisa said, “Yeah, Shin!” I got the point and building officials continued to allow us to come up to the balcony.
- I don’t like squid or octopus. I’ve never liked how cooked cephalopods smell and I’m not crazy about the aroma. This is ironic because squid and octopus are very popular in Japan and, as long as I can remember, my mother has cooked and served both. I’ve never been obligated to eat them, but I have at least done a taste test.
- I have owned two cars in my lifetime, both of them Nissans. The first one was a 1986 200sx, the second one is a 1993 Maxima.
- I snore LOUDLY. I only have other people’s word for this, but there have been enough witnesses: family, friends, and lovers I’ve literally slept with. When I was in grad school, there was one relationship where this guy lived in my apartment for six months and I took Benadryl to suppress my snoring. As a result, I showed up to work and my classes extremely tired. It didn’t last, and I kicked they guy out of my place. I also kicked the Benadryl.
- I didn’t get my driver’s license until I turned 21. I never needed it in high school, but I was tired of bumming rides from friends in my early 20’s.
- John is my coffee name at Starbucks. I never feel like telling a barista how to spell my name, so I tell them my name is John. It isn’t too far from the truth, as it is one of two middle names. When I completed my thesis for my MFA, I had to have my full name, not just Shinichi Evans, but my two other names as well. I can’t say I’ve ever been happy about this.
- A few years ago, I house-sat for a former professor of mine whenever he was out of town. During one of my stays at his home, I found a stash of cookies made with some “special ingredients.” I ate one and it tasted bitterly strange (I had a suspicion what it was), and I soon ate the entire batch. I then got the muchies and ate some carrot sticks and pretzels not to satisfy any hunger, but to satisfy my need to put something in my mouth and chew on it. I sat down to read and I had to stop because the room started spinning like a hamster wheel. I went to the prof’s bedroom to lay down. Before going to sleep, I looked at myself in his mirrored closet doors and thought it looked like a high-resolution video image. I lay down, had quite a laugh, and slept for over 14 hours. I’ve heard he’s held it against me since.
I wish I could tag Scott, Jaylen, and the person who anonymously (I know who he is) left me the comment about wanting a picture of me diagramming sentences in Doc Martens and a leather strap, but they don’t blog. Here are the people I’m tagging because I know they have blogs:
Chris
Brian
Murphy
Danny
Joshua
Fredo
Kelly and Joe (It’s one blog, but you’re both tagged)
I’ll follow Ted’s example and not deal with stuffing people’s blog comments with the news. There are too many other things to do. However, keep in mind that you’ve been memed by this post.
