Skiing!

Skiing with the Family
Originally uploaded by Carson D

I met up with my brother and sisters this weekend, and along with some of Kyle's friends, had the best long weekend of skiing (& drinking) that I've had in awhile. It's sad how rarely I get to go - I only made one trip prior to NY's Hunter Mountain, which is a poor excuse for a slope when compared to Breckenridge and Vail, where we skiied this weekend. It was my first skiing trip in Colorado, but it most certainly won't be my last. The mountains were magnificent and I actually found myself tackling double black-diamonds successfully for the first time in my life (admittedly they weren't nearly as intimidating as the similarly marked runs at Whistler, but whatever, I was proud of myself).
It was an exhausting trip and one morning I found myself vomitting into a toilet four times in quick succession - I'd like to blame the elevation, which surely was a contribution, but it probably didn't help that I drank the night before. Still, a long weekend of skiing in the Rockies with friends and family is a tough trip to beat!

Supporting the American Economy, One Outfit at a Time!

I knew it was going to be a slow day at work so I decided to head down to Chelsea for my lunchbreak to buy a lil' somethin' somethin' for my man for Valentine's Day. He has bought into the skinny tie thing but does not yet have a tie bar, which in my mind goes hand-in-hand with the craze. Unfortunately for him (and for my credit) it turns out that today is the opening day of the spring warehouse sale at Barney's. Jewelry wasn't on display, but plenty of other things were, including my new Captial E Levis corduroy pants!

Fellow Americans - it is our duty to purchase items in order to help revive the economy, is it not? And is it a crime that after doing so, I end up looking amazing as a result. Okay, okay, I mean even more amazing than usual (thank you, thank you). But let's not focus on me - let's focus on the issue at hand, the American economy....

Really though, for those who aren't in the know, the sale is one of the most unique I've ever been to. Barney's (a large, high-end department store based out of NYC) closes it's Chelsea store and opens it as a warehouse store, with piles and racks of clothing, shoes, suits, belts, etc scattered throughout. One of the most amusing aspects of the event (and an added bonus for us voyeurs) is that since there is no dressing rooms available, you must drop trou or remove shirt right there in the store in front of the hordes in order to try something on. In your average suburban mall this would be a travesty, but in NYC, the city built upon image control, most everyone looks amazing (and probably enjoys putting on a show as much as the others enjoy watching it.

Pacific Northwest Road Trip

Road Trip
Originally uploaded by Carson D

So in the summer of 2007 I attended my brothers wedding in Boise, ID the weekend before Fourth of July, and my friend Rob and I used it as a jumping point for a big roadtrip. We travelled from Boise up to Missoula, Montana, then west to Seattle. After that we went up to Vancouver and then came back to Seattle, which was the end. I wrote about the trip for Gay.com, which you can start to read here (FYI, I soooo did not pick the title of the story):

THE GREAT GAY STUD ROAD TRIP
Ever wanted to get away from it all only to find yourself surrounded by all the all same faces? This summer vacation experience a road trip out of your comfort zone. This week we follow two gay boys as they embark on an excursion of their own. (To read the rest of the story, click here.)

Corner Bistro Beating Smells Fishy

The Corner Bistro is one of the most famous burger joints in NYC and is commonly associated with the best burgers in town. It's also located in the West Village, one of the gayest neighborhoods in New York (and therefore one of the gayest neighborhoods in the world), so the following account (click here to read it) about a supposed gay bashing is a bit hard for this writer to swallow. Allegedly the writer and his boyfriend were 'victims' of an angry waiter, dismissive cops and a pissed off manager, all of which makes their story seem even more unlikely.
While the waiter (busboy, whatever) in questions behaviour is not excusable, I wonder what the writer's boyfriend did that may have instigated the arguement (you can almost tell by the way it is written that there is something being left out). It's a super busy bar/eatery so frequently you have to wait in a long line (no reservations allowed). And the fact that ONLY the boyfriend sat down and refused to move indicates that there is something else going on here that writer isn't telling us that probably prompted the reaction. It definitely sounds like the people overreacted but I've had to hold myself back from decking a few bitchy, impatient queens myself. I'm filing this report under "V for Vendetta"

Best Comedy - Ever?

I know not everyone agrees with me, but I have long felt that the long cancelled series Arrested Development is far and away one of the best TV series in history. It features one of the best ensemble casts in comedic history making it impossible to pick a favorite character. Unfortunately the show never connected with "greater" America, but considering some of greater America's choices (Friends, Nicholas Cage movies, George Dubya) I consider that to be an additional compliment to the show. The writing is amazing and works on so many levels - while there is plenty of slapstick and crass humor, there are also a number of complex, ongoing jokes that require a viewer to watch the series in it's entirety from start to finish. The third season loses some steam - at this point it's fate had become clear and I suspect some of the writers were either forced to jump ship or taken on safer jobs. Still, compared to the majority of the sitcoms on television, Arrested Development is well above par.

You can rent the DVDs via NetFlix, but like Seinfeld you'll find yourself wanting to watch episodes over and over again, so I suggest caving in and buying the series.

Nice Shot!

Katie's Visit
Originally uploaded by Carson D

I love these types of photos! Hold the camera in front of you as far as you can reach, angle it just so in order to capture yourself and what's just over your shoulder and presto you get a cool shot of you and everyone behind you...in this case my sister, Kevin and some random chick who isn't actually part of our group. Okay, presto isn't exactly right as it generally takes three or four tries to get it just right and in this instance I didn't give them any warning (although Kev somehow always manages to look picture perfect, except for this recent shot), but it's a cool shot regardless.
And there is the unfortunate stuff with close ups, like that big ass zit on my forehead...probably should have retouched that...
Oh well.

Inexplicable Popularity!

Beaverhausen Party
Originally uploaded by Carson D

Somehow this photo has rapidly become one of the most popular pictures on my photo blog, presumably due the forwarding on of one or both parties. It's an amusing pic of two guys in the city I know, John and Paul, the first of which I dated briefly a few summers ago. I guess I'm always curious as to which pics get the most hits, most of which are pretty obvious. This one seems to have taken on a life of it's own for some reason.
Just a good times pic taken at a good times party at our place in October.