I’m all man, baby … even if I do have a pink room in my house.

I had forgotten how evil dry wall and the dust it creates is. In trying to rip down a very small section of the closet, I spread dust all over my scanner, zip drive, iMac, Powerbook … everything. Needless to say that forced a quick evacuation of all expensive electronics from the room. Grrr. I now I have part of my desk set up in the living room. I hate remodeling.

Remember … I told you the office used to be pink.

The “Home Improvement Machine” has cranked into high gear again. My Spring project was to get the paneling and old drywall down in my room and office so that I could install insulation and be all ready for the coming winter. Well, the Spring project is now the Summer project and Winter is gonna be here before you can say “Boo!” I have started in the office and hope to finished the demolition part of it by the end of the week. The bonus is that I will get to remove the second closet that was added to the room some years ago. Yea for more floor space! (Please Note: This mean potential pictures of me all manly and handyman-ish.) The shocking thing is that my office room used to be …. ugh, pink! I didn’t think any self-respecting straight person (or gay for that matter) would actually paint their room pink. Ewwwwww!!!

Yes. I am more “hot, sweaty construction man” than anyone can handle.

You want to know what the crazy thing is? When you become a homeowner (especially of an older home like I have), you find that you want to make improvements and such. Now, you may ask, “Why is that so crazy?” Wanting to change stuff isn’t what’s bad. The fact that I am probably going to give up a beautiful Saturday afternoon to rip down paneling in my bedroom and office is what’s crazy. And, truth be told, I think I would much rather do that than go see a movie or take a walk in the woods. Crazy.

Yeah. I got manic over the weekend. It was stay busy or go crazy. Turns out that I was able to stay busy and go crazy at the same time. Geez. Friday night after a couple of beers I got the urge to rearrange my messy office. So, a couple of hours later that task was done. My desk now faces the door instead of the wall. It’s gonna work out better that way.

Saturday I decided to see what shape the hardwood floors are in. The house has hardwood floors in the original part of the house but they have all been covered over by carpeting, tile and laminate flooring. Ugh. The small section I took up in the office looked pretty good. So, over the afternoon I was able to pull up about 2/3 of the carpet in that room. Saturday night I went to a cookout and it just ended up being two married couples and myself. I don’t know … it got me down being the single gay guy in amongst “straight and coupled.” That night I had a dream about “Evil” … and, no it wasn’t one of “those” kinda dreams. I have never had a dream involving sex with the “Evil” one. I have only had two. In the first we were walking with a mutual friend. When the friend wasn’t looking, “Evil” leaned in and whispered in my ear about how much he loved me. He told me that he had always felt that way and was finally ready for me to know it. In this one he had come back to visit and had a bunch of his Florida friends with him. He had lost weight and was looking better than ever. It was very clear that he had moved on and I was still stuck. That’s when I woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep.

Sunday I spent all day in a funk … alternately pulling up carpet and sitting in the floor wanting to cry. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Wanting to cry got nothing accomplished, but I did get all the carpeting out of that room and got furniture and such moved back into place … and at some point later I will have to take it all back apart and actually refinish the floor. That night I lay in the bed hugging my Bart Simpson Talking Doll thinking dark thoughts. But, no more dreams.

So, silence from me on Monday here. Work this week has been full of stress. More stress than there needs to be. New equipment. God, I hate learning to use new equipment. Especially when the boss expects you just to be able to make it work on the first try. As much as I want to think so, I aint that good.

Back at work yet again. It sad when you have to use work as a place of rest … isn’t it. The weekend was pretty busy. Friday night was spent giving the house a total cleaning because the dust from the drywalling just doesn’t want to disappear. You can dust and a few hours later it doesn’t even look like you’ve touched the place. Saturday was the all day “The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season” Marathon party. Everyone seemed to have a nice time. I invited a butt-load of people but most of them didn’t come. The folks that were there had a nice time with the party going from 11:00 a.m. until around 1:00 in the morning. After a day full of beer and junk food, I am little fuzzy on the details. Yesterday my father and I put the first coat of paint of the living room. Sweetness!!! The color that I picked out really kicks ass (photos will appear sometime this week). I will get a second coat on at some point this week and then I will be almost done. All that’s left is purchasing, painting and putting up new molding and this little project will be history.

Yep. Here’s me looking a handymany and homeownerish.

Sweetness. A new ceiling fan is in the living room. The previous owner had this thing for “yellow gold” and it is everywhere in the house. I hate “yellow gold” so much and will eventually get it all out. The ceiling also got a fresh coat of paint as well. I really need to quit this schedule that I have had this week. Work all day then go home and work until 10:30-ish on the house. Tonight I will get to put the primer coat up … so, it will be “bye, bye” to the tri-color walls that are currently in the living room. I do believe that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (for this project, at least).

Since I have been at the bosses, I am back onto my television addiction for a few days. I got a chance to see Wildboyz last night … and, boy is it scary. Pontius and Steve-O put themselves into harms way with wild animals … all while wearing as little clothing as possible. So, I guess you could say show has a little bit for everyone. Pseudo-Gayness. S&M. Bestiality. I would have really helped is the show has been the least bit interesting. Ugh. Television just keeps getting worse and worse.

In other news …
All that is left is to sand the mud that was put on the dry wall and the living room will be ready to paint. Hot damn!

Also …
It was a pretty social weekend here in the mountains as well … new show at the local theatre, two gatherings on Saturday and a birthday party on Sunday evening. I don’t want to go into the details (’cause I will start sounding like a real nutcase), but I felt like an outsider at all these gatherings with people I have known for years. Honestly, I wouldn’t even know where to start to try and explain it. I guess I need to sit down and sort some things out. It’s doubtful but maybe something will fall into place.