It is time to go...

I have lived in downtown Dallas for almost 6 years. I am considered somewhat of a "pioneer" being here that long. I really have loved living here but life brings changes and we have decided to leave downtown. When Ron and I moved in together in February I transferred into a much larger loft because two people in 600 square feet was not that appealing to me. We have been very happy living in the new loft but we decided that, as a couple, perhaps downtown was not for us. We talked about renting or buying a house but decided that we were not really ready for that just yet. We did not even consider another place downtown or even uptown because the rent is getting ridiculous and the homeless issue is getting worse. We are sick and tired of stepping over the homeless and right into dog shit. We are also wanting to save money and with paying high parking rates, high rent, my DART pass, and other expenses and issues incurred living downtown we figured that this was more money than we really wanted to spend and getting to be way to much trouble than it is worth.

Finding a new place was easy. I have become incredibly spoiled to high-rise living and it just so happens that there is a 16 story building across the street from my office (literally, across the street). I looked there a long time ago and loved it but decided that I wanted to live downtown. Well, now I am ending up back there. Ron and I went over to look and he really liked it as well. Our lease is up in January so we still have a little time left here. This move will probably be a big adjustment for me but I am certainly looking forward to it.

Our future new home:

Olympics are OVER!...

I am so happy that the Olympics are over!!!! If I heard Michael Phelps name one more time I was going to shove the TV out the window. I just thought I would share.

Calatrava Bridge update…

DELAYED. Shocking. It seems the Italian steel company will be unable to deliver the steel bridge expanses by the deadline. 10 month delay. Shocking. Take a look at the “artists rendering” below. It looks like there is a bridge in the middle of nowhere (which is not that far out of bounds). The picture should have been done with the downtown skyline in the background. Where is PhotoHazard when you need him?

Mommie Dearest...

Sunday we did nothing. We didn’t even leave the apartment (taking Moses out does not count). Of course there is nothing on TV. Eventually I found Mommie Dearest on the soap network. HAD TO WATCH! MD is such a bad movie but it is so over the top and campy that it has turned into a cult classic and most of the gays have scenes memorized! I know I do! This movie is so bad that it earned the Razzie award for worst movie of the 1980’s. The movie is based on a novel by her oldest adopted daughter who then whored it into a movie. I don’t believe Christina Crawford’s take on her famous mother, in its entirety. Joan Crawford was known to be obsessive compulsive who loved her vodka and, in my opinion, borderline manic. I have read interviews and accounts from her other adopted children and they paint a pretty nasty picture of Christina Crawford. Also, victims of child abuse are usually not known to make the dirty laundry so public. I think she was pissed that she was cut out of the will, which she and Christopher contested and won about 28K each. Either way, I doubt that the accounts of abuse in the movie and book are 100% accurate. It certainly makes for a fabulous cinematic experience. Who wouldn’t love a movie about a boozed up drag queenish movie star going around slapping people with wire hangers? When this movie is played at the Lakewood Theater people come dressed as Joan Crawford in kabuki-style makeup wielding hangers yelling “Don’t FUCK with me fellas!” Gotta love it!

Hitting the sheets...

Last night I was far to engrossed in watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. So Ron said he would put the sheets on the bed. After the movie was over I went into the bedroom and saw that the bed looked great! It was fully made with decorative pillows in place. Just like I like it! So then I go to pull the sheets back and was surprised at how tight they were. I had to yank to pull them down. Sometimes I am reminded that Ron was indeed in the military. Any drill sergeant would have been envious. They teach you to make a bed where you can bounce a quarter on. Well, you could have bounced a person on these. They were so tight that when I got into bed I felt like I was strapped down like that kid in Mommie Dearest.

Nutty ad...

I came across this ad (thanks Gawker.com) and it made my day.

Creatures of the night...

I love my animals. Ms. Kitty is by far the best pet I have ever had. She is getting older and a little sweeter. Ms Kitty is about 11 years old and really is aging well. Still spry and alert. But every so often she gets ill. Last night I awoke to the sounds of Ms Kitty hawking up her meow mix in several places in the bedroom. About a moment later Moses jumped from the bed and I heard him cleaning up the mess. I got up and graciously stepped in kitty hurl. I didn’t want to wake Ron so I cleaned it up in the dark. As I washed my foot in the sink I was cursing the day I got her but it isn’t her fault. She just got sick. What is gross is that Moses wants to eat it! I just don’t understand it.

RuPaul...

On Wednesday nights I indulge in Project Runway. I would have to say that this group, so far, is not as good as the talent from season 4 and 5. But so far so good. Last nights episode was about dressing drag queens and the guest judge was the grand dame RuPaul. I had not seen her in a really long time. YIPES!!! Sista has had some work done! M’kay.!














Last night her cheeks looked sunken and her hair not so fierce. Think Sarah Jessica Parker. Overall it was good to see the old girl still kickin.

Hallmark...

Hallmark has announced that they are selling gay marriage cards, in addition to the coming out cards they already have had on the market for about year or so. Kudos for them. People have been asking me what I think about it all. I really don’t care. Nor do I care about getting married. Ron and I have already discussed this briefly and both agreed that marriage is just not for us. We like things just the way they are. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

I really like this ad. The photgraphy is fantastic and I just really like to watch water balloons burst in super slow motion!

My New Toy...

Whenever I am at Target I must always go and visit the kitchen appliance isles. I always would gravitate to the stand mixers. I have wanted one for so long but just did not want to spend the money. Yesterday while pawing over the white Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Ron said “we might as well get it.” The frugal part in me said “no, I did not need it” and the selfish part said “get it, use it, love it.” It was speaking to me and calling my name. I did tell Ron that I would not be baking anything until I got a mixer because of the mess I create. So I think he wanted me to have it partly because he has been itching for brownies. So we bought it. We get it home and open it up. Beautiful. The angels were singing and the clouds parted to rain sunbeams down in glorious celebration of this addition to our family.

I had some eggs that probably needed to be thrown out so I added the egg whites into the machine and added a little sugar. 30 seconds later I had meringue. I was super excited. So, as promised I started on the brownies. Now, B.M. (before mixer, not bowel movement-get your minds out of the gutter) I would have had every bowl out and a mess that would make me want to move instead of clean. A.M. (after mixer) I had one bowl that needed cleaning and the mixer bowl itself, a spoon, and rubber spatula…that was it. Chocolate stayed where it was supposed to and there was not a cloud of flour hovering over the kitchen. There was hardly any mess and I was not worn out. Cleaning the mixer was even easier…rinsed in soapy hot water and towel tried the bowl and attachment came clean instantly. After the brownies I made a spicy goat cheese dip that we both love. Then after dinner we sat down to indulge in a brownie. Ron made fresh whipped cream. So far the wire whisk and the paddle attachments have proven fabulous. All I need to use now is the dough hook. I have been looking at other attachments and I want them all! 

We did not go all out for a big pricey machine. We all know that these mixers are quite expensive. Target, the store of eternal happiness, has a 4.5 quart, white stand mixer by Kitchen Aid for $199.00. I am looking forward to a nice long life with the mixer and I cannot wait for its debut on Cooking with Karen.

Speaking of…I am working on a new CWK. I will have one posted by mid next week.

Fort Worth...

This past Saturday Ron and I decided to break from our tradition of doing nothing and took the train over to downtown Fort Worth. The trip was about an hour and not very scenic. There were unruly children on the train. Cute but I pictured them being thrown from the train over an overpass.

We visited the lovely water gardens. My first thought was “this is where all those people drowned a few years ago…lets check it out.” The gardens were actually very interesting. After our fill of water we decided to find food as we were both starving. We make our way to the Sundance Square area and I was shocked at how nice everything was. There were people everywhere and businesses were thriving. There were restaurants, coffee shops, and clothing stores galore. I just could not believe it. Downtown Fort Worth made Downtown Dallas look like the beaten step-child one would keep in the cabinet under the stairs. It was almost embarrassing. Dallas is a huge fan of tearing down old historic buildings where FW has renovated them and turned them into businesses and residences. It was all just so beautiful. We definitely plan on returning soon to explore more.

Olympics blah blah blah...

I have not been paying much attention to the Olympics but I do know that I am sick and tired of hearing about Michael Phelps. Everyone is talking about how great and amazing he is. Eh, whatever. Yeah, he broke records blah blah blah. I don’t care. I am just tired of it all. I am more interested in how China is lying to the world about their contestants ages, how they are covering up the murder of two American citizens, how the cute little girl who sang at the opening wasn’t really singing cause the not-so-cute girl was to ugly to represent China except to use of her voice, and how the IOC is saying “oh well” to it all. The Olympics have greatly degraded their credibility in my book.

New Glasses...

In anticipation of a change in health insurance due to a company change I decided to go out and utilize my eye insurance before it ended. Within the next few months FCS is being acquired by a London based financial services firm called Markit from JPMorgan. We will still have vision insurance but I was told that it would suck. So I went in and had an exam at my $10.00 co-pay and then went and bought new glasses. My frame allowance is 130.00 and 20% off any amount after that. What would have been 495.00 cost me (exam included) 120.00 (I also added an anti-glare coating). I decided to get the fancy designer frames and LOVE them. I have gotten many great comments on them. Honestly I wanted them because it said Karan on each side (Donan Karan actually but I was all about the Karan part!) They are super comfortable and super light. I don’t think that my new insurance will be as good as what I have had so might as well use whatever I can before time is up!

Rachel Ray has sold her soul...

I cannot stand Rachel Ray. She has whored herself out (thank you Oprah) to no end. Forbes just released the top ten celebrity chefs in term of income. Rachel is number 1 with an astounding 18 million dollars earned this year. I am not shocked really. Oprah has been pimping her out like crazy. I just wish they would both go away.

Top ten:

1. Rachel Ray 18 Million
2. Wolfgang Puck 16 Million
3. Gordon Ramsay 7.5 Million
4. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa 5 Million
5. Alain Ducasse 4.5 Million
6. Paula Deen 4.5 Million (also whoring herself out)
7. Mario Batali 3 Million
8. Tom Colicchio 2 Million
9. Bobby Flay 1.5 Million (can’t stand him)
10. Anthony Bourdain 1.5 Million (Love him!!!!)

Olympic pity party…

It is almost time for the summer Olympics to start. Big woo. The only event I watch during the summer games is the swimming. But now they have taken away the biggest reason for watching. The swimmers have decided to put on full body suits to shave off a few milliseconds. WTF are they doing?? They are depriving us of gawking at their well sculpted, wet, bodies. Ugh. Oh well, guess I will just deal with it. I love the winter Olympics because I am addicted to the ice dancing and the Luge. I was totally misty-eyed when Torvill and Dean skated the Bolero in Lillehammer and was pissed when they didn’t take home the gold (they took bronze).

What kills me to watch the Olympics are the sad stories of hardship, sacrifice, loss, sickness, and devotion of the contestants. It all sounds like a Lifetime movie special done entirely in a country song. I don’t give a damn that you got up at 4am every morning to travel 100 miles from bum-fucking Egypt to the big city to practice your skills. I don’t give a damn that you took care of your cancer stricken grandmother because your crack whore mother is in her 9th stint of rehab and your father hasn’t been around since you were two. But you have held on to your dreams of one day being an Olympian and bringing home the gold and then only to loose your metals because of performance enhancing drugs. Boo-fucking-woo.

Seriously? Unfortunately most folks eat this shit up. Most of the time they go on to loose anyway, perhaps bringing home a bronze or silver. Devastated that they are not bringing home the gold! I say it is high time for the Tonya Harding’s of the Olympic world to stand up, grab a crow bar and destroy some dreams. Now that is real drama.

Hello 911? I would like....

I came across a story this morning were a Florida man was not to happy that his Subway sandwich was missing the sauce. He called 911 twice. First to complain about his sandwich and that he wanted the police to make sure it was made correctly. The second call was to complain that the cops were not fast enough in getting to the store. He was arrested, or course.

I like subway and although I do not eat there much I do know how to order a sub there. Everything is in front of you. You watch your sub being made! If they missed the mayo and mustard then he should have said something. But knowing from experience they always ask if I want mayo or mustard or other varieties of sauces.

I included the link to the CNN video. It is amazing what 911 callers ask for.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/08/05/spivey.911.call.sandwich.wtlv

Nosey Bitch...

I was walking Moses the other morning before heading to work and as I was crossing the street this woman was crossing in the opposite direction. She told me, sternly, that I should not be dragging that poor dog. I informed her to mind her own business and kept walking. Moses gets distracted and there a times when I need to nudge him along. Who the hell does she think she is? I wanted to put the leash on her and drag her fat ass across the street. Stupid hooker!

Play Girl...

I remember Play Girl just being really cheesy but enough to…..well you know. I had looked at Play Boy before and it all pretty much looked and did the same for me. But then I discovered PG and thought, wow! Love it! Of course I was not old enough to know better (probably a good thing). Now there are many publications out there for the gay man/straight woman (perhaps the occasional straight guy). I have graduated from dirty magazines to more respectable periodicals such as GQ and Details but occasionally the latest issue of Inches Magazine is kinda fun.

AT&T...

AT&T recently announced that they will be moving their corporate headquarters and 700 employees to Downtown Dallas. This marks the second HQ move in a year. Recently Comerica Bank moved into the former Bank One Tower. The City of Dallas is giving AT&T about 6 million in tax subsidies to move here. To me that does not make much sense because they already have 4 sky scrapers downtown (all of which are right next door to where I live). I guess they have their reasons. But overall, it is very nice to see more businesses moving into downtown.

I am back!

Sorry everyone but I have been on haitus for a while. I have many things to post about! I also have a new Cooking with Karen in the works!