Days By Karle Wilson Baker

Days by Karle Wilson Baker

Some days my thoughts are just cocoons - all cold, and dull, and blind
They hang from dripping branches in the grey woods of my mind;
And other days they drift and shine - such free and flying things!
I find the gold dust in my hair, left by their brushing wings.

This is the perfect poem for me who has to write everyday.  This is quite inspiring!  Of course, not everyday is a gold dust day for me, so it's important to have the discipline to continue writing even if the inspiration is not there. 

Related articles

• The Hunk in the Mentalist: Simon Baker
• Finally Michael Baker Can Shine
• Luke Wilson: Endearing in Enlightened

My Budget For This Week - November 1-7

About two months ago, I have decided to pay off my credit card debts, which have reached insane levels.  I knew that just paying the minimum won't cut it, so I decided to change my lifestyle so that all the extra money I have could be given to service these debts.  You have to understand though that all my other living expenses, mortgages, etc. do not count here. This is just my personal expenses for a week.  That's why I count myself lucky, so I decided to really discipline myself fiscally. For this week, my usual budget is this -

1.  Gas - 500 pesos  - I now limit my driving to places near my house.  If I have to go far, like Makati, I limit it to once a week.  I have switched to using the van which just uses diesel, which is cheaper, or just driving myself with the SUV (which uses unleaded, which is more expensive), so that I can limit the times the driver has to pick me up.

2.  Parking - 270 pesos - I now go to the gym where the mall just charges a flat rate of 45 pesos (US$1.04) per day, instead of an hourly basis.  That could save me up to 600 pesos (US$13.90) per month.

3. Movie - 340 pesos - I plan to watch two movies this week - Laruang Lalake and Buried. Sometimes, to save on this, I watch with my brother, who usually foots the bill

4. Food - 350 pesos - For this week, I will just pay for the dinner when I watch Laruang Lalaki, then for my popcorn and drinks and then a box of my favorite crinkles.  I just eat at home to save money. 

5.  Others - 500 pesos - for my astringent and other beauty stuff I may need.

All the rest of the salary I'll get will be paid to my credit cards.  At the rate I'm going, I should be able to pay off my credit cards in 24 months time, and hopefully earlier, if I scrimp some more.

Related articles

• Flying Through Clark International Airport for the First Time
• Philippine peso expected to depreciate to 45 to a dollar by yearend
• A Tip For Agricultural Entrepreneurs: Plant Natural Ingredients

Book Review: Joan Rivers - 'Don't Count the Candles'

I've heard of Joan Rivers and her bitchiness but I never realized how funny she was!! Until I read this book of hers.  From the moment I started reading, I was already laughing.  Her sense of humor is so affecting and you can feel as if she's in front of you reading it to you - and giving you that punchline!!

I will turn 40 next year so I can relate to what she's saying here.  However, this book is also for those older than me, so it has something for everyone over forty.  I learned a lot of things from this book and one of them is to be current all the time - in my attitude, in my fashion sense, in my taste in music. It doesn't mean that I'm older, that my tastes should be archaic too!

Thanks Joan!  Your book has really helped me enjoy this time of my life and be more accepting of it - and thanks for all the laughs I got!

Related articles

• Moron 5 and the Crying Lady: Where are the Jokes?
• Going Back to Manual Counting Would Lead to More Cheating
• The Impressive Hunger Games

An Underwear That Will Flatten My Mini Pot Belly Is Now Available!

Finally!  A thoughtful piece of clothing for imperfect men like me!  I admit it, getting rid of my pot belly is like making an Israeli marry a Palestinian!  It just so hard to do!  Unless I get sick, it's almost impossible to burn all that fat unless I want to run myself to death! 

Spanx has made a lot of women look fantastic in their imperfect bodies, so I'm excited that now, they have a new range of Spanx pants which are designed to "firm and flatten" and make beer bellies invisible!

I don't have a beer belly, more like the belly of a woman who's 2-3 months pregnant. It's there but not quite there yet.  So this thing will definitely help!  Question now is, will it be available in Asia?  If so, get it here, pronto!!

A Woman Using A Cellphone During Charlie Chaplin's Premiere in 1928!!

This is probably one of the coolest videos I've seen in a long time!! I am myself, a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, and if I could time travel, I would definitely be there!  I'm just surprised how openly this 'time traveler' used her device during that period!  What would Einstein say about this?


Do I believe this?  Yeah, because it does happen in the Bermuda Triangle, wherein you bend time and space.  How does it happen?  I would leave that explanation to the physicists and other experts of this field.  If we believe in God, whom we never see, hear, or touch, whom we never met, there's a lot we can believe in! 

The Fun Things about Internet Dating

Planetromeo is one of the popular gay dating sites here in Manila and yup, I did use it a few months back, after I got over the slump of a breakup.  I've stopped doing it now because I'm in a good place again so I thought of writing about some fun things and some hazards, specifically about gay internet dating.  Let's start with the fun things -

1.  If you screen your choices carefully, you'd get to meet a lot of interesting guys!  I met a film director, a businessman who loves Paris and a manager from Bulgari.  They are among the ones I remember most!

2.  You have a pick of different physical types, if you don't want to stick with the stereotypical body that you usually want in a person.  And it was good that I had a lot of pick for the slimmer ones!

3.  You get to date a lot of younger men, and they're a lot of fun to be with because their ideas of having fun are more adventurous or more unique than mine!

If you keep an open mind about it and decide to widen your usual pool of picks, you can be in fr a wonderful surprise!

Fighting Through the Pain

This is the second week where I did the  Body Step, Body Jam and Body Combat trio, all in one night!  I'm getting the hang of Body Step but I still feel awkward and wary of my knees too, so I pace myself in it.  One good thing I felt tonight is that I was enjoying the new release more, and reacting more now to the joy of the music and just grooving to it!  Nice feeling!  By the time I had to do Body Combat, my feet were really tired already but I still plodded on!  It did help that there was this cute twinkie in front of me.  Eye candy really helps!  And he was really punching too!! Hmmm........

Anyhow, since it was a holiday, I had to wait for ten minutes to get an extra locker.  Hazards of coming during the peak hours, I guess. 

Three Good Things That Happened To Me Today - October 25, 2010

1.  I enjoy voting because I get to meet some of our neighbors and catch up with them.  Today, I saw some of my former students.  They're all now so big and tall and actively participating in the barangay elections - whether as campaigners, or PPCRV volunteers.  It's their time to make some changes in our society!  It was great talking to them!

2.  I'm finally enjoying the new releases of Body Jam and Body Combat.  It really takes time for the new moves to sink in and tonight, I was finally having fun with it and I was just flowing with the music.

3.  I was able to pay my credit card bills today and that's really good!  I'm still deeply sunk in the credit card black hole but I'm inching ever so slowly to paying them all off. 

An Uncompromising Woman: Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

I read this good article about Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and how she is slowly steering her war-torn country back into civilized society.  The odds seem insurmountable since the corruption in Liberia is so deep-seated and that men seem to have a violent sway over their women!  But I am proud of what she is doing and I am rooting for her to succeed. It's not going to be easy and it's important that the international community always keeps a close eye on the country.  Her tenacity and determination to make her projects succeed is very laudable!  In the end, it is still her economic performance which will determine is she survives politically or not.  But I wish her well.  If she succeeds, it could be a good role model for other African countries to emulate.

A Nugget of Wisdom from Joan Rivers

I picked this book by Joan Rivers last weekend and I decided to give it a read a few days ago while I was waiting for my laptop to boot!  And it's been a riot reading this lady!  She's a lot of fun to read and I was laughing and smiling while reading it at the ABS-CBN food court!  I must have looked like an idiot doing that!

Anyhow, the book was about dealing with age and I admit it, I'm turning 40 next year and I am really slowly feeling the effects of aging!  Well, Joan has several tips for the ladies (and guys) like me who are reaching this stage of their lives.  One nugget of wisdom I really like, is when she exhorts that we 'stay current' - in our news, in our music, in our fashion, in everything!  No use dwelling on the past, since young people don't want to really hear about it!

So with that new mantra, I have decided to stay current in my own life, especially in fashion and in technology!  I am current in most of the other areas of my life but not so in those two, especially in embracing the new technology!  I am too slow!  I should open my mind more to the possibilities!  Vic and I have now discovered you can update your profile and blog through the phone!  Imagine that!  Also in fashion, I know I still have the body to try the new silhouettes but I'm just too chicken shit to try them out!  See how much fun I'm missing out!

Thanks to you Joan!  I will continue to share the nuggets I relate to in her book.

Dating Twelve Different Men Just For Fun!

I was talking to a good friend last week in the gym and she secretly told me about one of her projects right now - a project in her personal life!  She said she was doing 12 dates with 12 different men! She wanted to do this since normally, she would not open up to guys she would not initially like.  But since she wants to open up her world more, she's going out with twelve different guys in 12 different dates!  She had her fourth date and fourth guy last night!  Smart girl!!

Well, I will copy her idea and do my own twelve dates of twelve different men.  I haven't thought of the list yet or at least the first 3 guys to go out with, but after Halloween, I will have my own fun!  And of course, I will blog about it.  However, this time, I will not use the gay dating site to meet men.  I will thicken up my face and invite someone I've been seeing in the gym or someone I know or met in person!  That would be more exciting, I think! My only problem with this set up is, what if I begin to like the guy I'm dating.  And what if he's guy #4?  Do I stop at #4?  Oh well, no use worrying now when there's still no problem.  I'll cross the bridge when I get there!  Will I blog about it?  You bet!!

A Good Massage at Fitness First Spa

I was a regular at the Fitness First Spa at ABS-CBN years ago, but when my masseur left for abroad, I discontinued my patronage of the place.  Today, I was at Robinsons Place Ermita and since I was feeling a bit tired, I decided to go back to the Fitness First Spa here.  Their spa here is huge!  Even the rooms are huge!  And you can really relax since you don't feel constricted and you don't hear noise from the next room or the next store.  My masseur was Rog and he was referred to me by my previous masseur.  I decided to get the package where you get a body scrub and a massage for the price of 999 pesos.  That was the amount I was paying 3 years ago, so I'm quite lucky they didn't increase their price!  I had a really relaxing time and even though I only had 4 hours sleep, when I woke up after the massage, I was really brand new.  Rog's massage was ok since I always want it hard and he really spent time kneading those tight leg, back and shoulder muscles.  He even did some stretching for me, which was cool!  For the price, this is good value for money, and I didn't have to worry about being harassed by the masseur!

Related articles

• Quo Vadis Hip Hop in Fitness First
• Twitter and the Angry Celebrities
• Sugar Situation Stabilizing
• So This Is How a 48 Million Peso Painting Looks Like

Tough Yoga Class Tonight

I think one reason Miche's class is always full is that there are enough yoga and Body Balance addicts at Fitness First The Block who demand a kick-ass class!  There was a bit of room tonight though but the quality of Miche's poses were tough (as usual) as she constantly pushed us to do the poses to the maximimum of our flexibility.  Problem is, I did leg exercises yesterday so my thighs were in no position to hold my whole body for a long period.  Anyhow,  I just endured the pain, except in one instance where I had to 'cheat' a bit, otherwise, my legs were just ready to give in!

Then, I went straight to Gen's Body Jam class, but got sidetracked for a while as Toinette and I exchanged numbers and quick stories.  I still have to get used to the steps of the new release but I am beginning to like them now.  Maybe after one week, I could already 'emote' and do the steps as they should have been done.  Tonight was also one of those rare moments where there was a cute guy in class!  And he was two rows in front of me!  At least, some motivation with eye candy like that is always welcome!

Finally, I did some chest and back exercises but I decided on doing lesser weight since I knew my body was tired already.  Anyway, there was only one cute guy in the weights area.  It was a late Friday night so what did I expect!

I weighed in today and I was already just 200 pounds which really made me happy!  I was 202 pounds when the week started!  I guess I have to eat less again tomorrow if I want to maintain this weight.  I just need the discipline in eating!

Thanks for the Heads Up!

I was watching the TV show Nurse Jackie and one of the younger nurses made a mistake and gave a huge dosage to a famous film critic which immediately made him suffer respiratory failure.  He didn't die.  Anyhow, the next scene showed the young nurse with two senior nurses who were telling that they too committed mistakes and they said, if not for those mistakes, they wouldn't have become better nurses.  And she says to them, 'Thanks for the heads up!'

I too want to say 'Thanks for the heads up' to one special person who made it easier for me during that time in my college life when I was reeling from a mistake I made.  I had this very perceptive Psychology teacher who really prepped me up when I was in what I'd call, my personal 'Dark Ages!'.  Simply, she believed in me, and she spoke to me one day after class and said, 'You're so brilliant so why would you want to kill yourself?' 

Apparently she noticed the suicidal bent in some of my personal essays.  I knew I was turning in good work for her subject but she just could not connect that with my feelings of hopelessness and maybe despair.  She really saved me and brought me back to the light.  I am my own worst critic, and I know that, so I guess she taught me to go easy on myself.  She gave me the heads up when I really needed it.  And she gave me a grade of 1.0!  I couldn't be prouder of myself!

My Dream Projects in My 40s

I was cleaning one of my cabinets today and I opened a folder which contained clippings of some of my goals and dreams, which I think I wrote when I was 36 years old.  I will turn 40 in a few months and the list is still doable, so I am listing them now and putting in my two-cents thoughts on each of them.  I will do my best to achieve them all but as they say, life happens!  I will write this as I wrote the goals, in their original places -

1.  Produce an independent digital movie - this is a dream which Vic and I have always nurtured year after year, so we hope to really be able to do it in the future.  I also hope I'd be the one who'll write the script!

2.  Open a neighborhood library-study center and encourage reading among Roxas kids. My first business was a tutorial center, so nowadays, I'd like to put up another tutorial center, but this time, the services will be free! 

3.  Create a sculpture park - I got this idea from a billionaire Korean guy who placed all these sculptures in a huge property which he turned into a park.  Eventually, the people of Bonifacio Heights implemented it but the sculptures are far from impressive.  I want 'Damien Hirst' types of sculptures - thought-provoking and shocking yet beautiful!

4.  Open a dance club/live band place like the Fringe Club in HK.  I was a fan of the Fringe Club since they had a gallery, they put up plays, and concerts and the place was tiny!  I want to recreate such club here in Quezon City, make it like some kind of mini cultural center - a community cultural center.

5.  Open a neighborhood gym.  My monthly gym dues is a hefty US$63 per month, more than what most New Yorkers pay for.  So, I was hoping to put up a simple, neighborhood gym where dues range from US$10 to US$20 per month.

6.  Open an art gallery.  I was so set on doing this before, but now, not so much anymore.

7.  Get a master's degree in Art Studies.  I was planning on doing this for the gallery project, but I have lost heart a little bit, upon knowing the local art scene. 

8.  Sponsor a gay prom Manila.  Probably the most controversial project I'm planning.  They do hold these gay proms in the UK, so it would give younger gay people outlets to meet same minded people.  May attract a lot of controversy!

9.  Open a 'Home for the Aged' for gay people.  Some people have done this already and I'd like to convert maybe one of our properties to a place where old gay people can retire to.

10.  Open a home for abandoned pets.  I actually hate dogs but if I can find people who can run this thing, I'd gladly help and fund them.

11.  French writing website - tough to do.  I did baby steps on this already.  Headache, headache, headache!
12.  Ivy League Building - Vic and I would like to hire an architect who can design a building that people would go to just to have their picture taken!

13.  To sponsor a sports prodigy.  Most likely a kid who loves tennis!
14.  Buy property in Hong Kong.  I used to live in HK so this was part of the goal.   I have properties now in Manila, so home is here nowadays....

Finally, A Saint for Children Sexually Abused By Priests!

Today's canonization of Australian saint Mother Mary MacKillop is a stroke of PR genius for the Vatican! The nun was a 19th-century "whistleblower" who activists say should be the patron of victims of sexual abuse by priests because she was punished for exposing it.

Evidence has surfaced that showed that MacKillop was temporarily banished from the Church in part because her order uncovered a case of sexual abuse of a boy by an Irish priest.  Pope Benedict spoke of her "saintly example of zeal, perseverance and prayer" and the many challenges she faced.

Australian Mark Fabbro, who said he had been sexually abused by a priest at the age of 11, said: "Well for me as a survivor of sex abuse by a priest this is a very important day for me. Mary MacKillop was a carer of the disadvantaged ... a particular priest who was brought to light by her for abusing children so she was protecting children of child abuse."

At least this shows that some sectors of the Vatican leadership still care for these unfortunate children, if only to give them someone to intercede for them in their moments of darkness and depression.

My Goals For This Week: October 18, 2010

It's Monday, October 18, the start of the week, and I am setting my goals for this week.  I want to continuously improve myself and enjoy my life so I decided to do this on a weekly basis.

1.  We have opted to change our diet in the house to just fish and vegetables. That should help us lose a little of our weight, or at least just maintain it.

2.  Use my work time wisely since there are so many blogs to write on.  My new schedule would be to blog first, then to answer the queries, and then, finally, to write.

3.  Buy fruit so I won't have to eat sweets at night.

4. Read 2 pages of Desert everyday and blog about it.

5.  Continue to devote 30 minutes to reading fiction or magazines a day. 

6. Review one album a week.

Now that I've posted my goals for this week, let me see which of them I achieve success in next week!

Role Models: Julia Roberts' Character in Pretty Woman

I was watching one scene in Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino and the Hmong girl's character was thanking Clint's character for being a role model to her younger brother.  That got me thinking of who were my role models while I was growing up.  I came up with this list of five wonderful female celebrities who I've used as my inspiration and role models. 

* Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman

In this unforgettable 1990's comedy, Julia plays the role of a hooker with a golden heart.  She became one of my first clear role models because I saw, that despite her profession, she chose to take control of her life, to run it the way she wanted it. 

Why was that important to me?

Well, because in the 1990s, I was still debating whether to come out as a gay man or pretend to be straight and just get married, like everyone else. After I saw this movie, I knew I had to live my life the way I want it.  As her character says, "I say who, I say when,...I say who...". 

Also, in one key scene, she gets mad at Richard Gere's character because he tells his friend that she was a hooker.  She says, "Why did you dress me up?  If I were in my trashy clothes, I would have been able to fight back."  It got me thinking, if I pretend to be straight, and get a girlfriend, the rumours and the gossip around me will never stop!! If I just come out as gay, if someone taunts me, I can fight him or her better, since I'm not hiding anything.  So I decided to just come out.  So that's why this hooker with a golden heart is the most important role model in my life. 

Related articles

• Basti Artadi: Back For Good
• Remarkable Beauty: Julia Montes @montesjulia #walang hanggan
• 80s Classic #richardgere #debrawinger

Fitness First Diary: Funny Thing Happened in the Shower

It's the season for brownouts again here in Metro Manila and because of it, I had a funny thing happen to me in the shower today.  I was at Fitness First North EDSA, prepping up for a work out by taking a shower first.  So I had the conditoner on my hair and applied soap throughout my body when a quick brownout suddenly happened!  The problem was not about the lights.  It was about the water!  Since the gym is on the top floor of the mall, there is virtually no water pressure so I had no water to wash me down!  Good thing I was using a moisturizing soap, and not a whitening one.  Otherwise, my skin would have been itching for a quick wash down!  Anyhow, I had to use that 'barely there' water pressure, which after a few minutes, washed down all that soap and conditioner.  I still couldn't believe that it had to happen at that exact minute that I had soap all over me. 

Well, I did Clark's Hiphop class today, and he had another series of new steps for us!  I love the small nuances in his steps today and the importance of the counting to emphasize some steps.  Just shows us that he really prepared for this class.  Which can't be said of some other hiphop instructors.  I wasn't that 100% today though and got lost in some of the hand gestures which happens simultaneously with the feet movement.  I guess I'm still adjusting to having a huge mirror on my right and with the instructor on my left.  I get minute errors in my bearings!  A bit irritating!

My Own Version of 'Eat Pray Love' Would Be 'Smile Dance Reflect'

As Vic and I left the theater after watching 'Eat Pray Love', we had a good laugh since we've actually done what Julia Roberts' character had done sans the issues that her character had to deal with - for the simple reason that we left those baggages in our lives behind a long time ago and we've decided to move forward with our lives.  We actually did what Julia's character did, just dump all those people who made us miserable and left them to wallow in their own misery - and keep them out of our lives.  So with a baggage-free life, we were able to enjoy our lives more, and our version of her 'Eat Pray Love' sojourn was 'Shop Party Have Fun' and the places would've been New York, London and Hong Kong.

Now that I've done that part of my life, if I were to create my own journey now, I'd choose Bhutan, Cuba and North Korea - and my that version would be 'Smile Dance Reflect'.  They say the Bhutanese are the happiest people on earth. Filipinos are a close second I'm sure!  I think Bhutan is one of those rare countries still untouched by the world's materialism.  I am a walking materialistic person.  My life revolves around logos in my clothes and shoes and the cars I drive.  I am like everyone else - raised to be materialistic and to be averse to a life without material things.  So Bhutan would be a mystery to me.  I would love to be on top of the world literally and experience pure happiness in a life without any hint of materialism.  That would be the Smile phase of my trip.

After that would be the Dance phase!  I've always associated Cuba with a vibrant musical scene, thanks to growing up to the music of Gloria Estefan and Celia Cruz and Harry Belafonte, who are Americans with Cuban lineage - and whose music I really love and dance to!  So I would like to experience the real music scene in Cuba, the real salsa, and sway to the vibrancy of their music - unless of course the rule of Fidel Castro hasn't effectively killed it.  But I don't think so.  Even in the most oppressive regimes, the people's musicality will always shine through.  And that would be the purpose of my trip to Cuba, to find out if the musicality of the Cubans have lived on, even though the world has already left them technologically and economically, and going there would be like going back in a time machine!

Finally, the Reflect phase will come in my trip to North Korea.  I know I'd have to travel in a tour group and have no Internet access in my stay there.  I also cannot choose where to go, or talk to the people on the street, or maybe take pictures or videos they don't sanction.  But I'm still curious to see how people there could live under a regime that manipulates their thinking and their minds as soon as they are born to this world.  I want to see how they could go on living and survive in an environment that they have been conditioned to think as heaven, and to think of America and South Korea, as hell or the devil.  I don't know if I'd have to feel pity or anger towards them, maybe I'd just want to find out how the human spirit can still survive amidst all that oppression.  I am curious as to what 'having fun' actually means to them!

Related articles

• Post Easter Reflection #1: I Should Pray More
• Theatre Review: So Many Reasons To Love Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah - Ze Muzikal
• On Dating Younger Men

Book Review: Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" Takes You Everywhere in London

It's stupid of me to miss both visits of Neil Gaiman to Manila due mainly to the fact that I did not know of his work yet!  Isn't that crazy?

I was not really into that kind of genre, until of course, I received his book, Neverwhere, as a Christmas gift two years ago, which I only read  this year. I should have read it much much earlier!!

Gaiman also wrote the screenplay for "Stardust", a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, not only because of Robert De Niro's camp performance, or that guy from The Office, who was infernally funny here, or the presence of my own personal goddess, Michelle Pfeiffer - but because it was simply an enjoyable adventure of a movie. 

Neverwhere is very much like it. Set in my favorite city, London, it is a London I do not know and haven't been to because it's set under the streets of the city. It's a parallel world where the underground world never meets the world of the working man. 

The Tube stations, the wharf, the thin line that divides one universe from another - all these are inhabited by beings from two different dimensions which coexist but which none from both sides can physically see or interact with. 

Unlike the two protagonists here. I should really open my reading choices more and try to read more alternative fiction stuff like Gaiman's work, because the characters are not only quite interesting, it allows my brain to go on overdrive, since I have to imagine an alternative universe different to ours. I was like being sucked into a Pan's Labyrinth type of world. It's simply genius. I recommend that if you have a 13-year old kid or cousin, let them read this. This should stimulate their facebook-youtube-friendster-katrinahalilihaydenkhovideodeadenedbrains. 

It's easy to read, the main protagonists are endearing and there's enough evil beings thrown in to make their lives miserable. Of course, it helps if they've been to London, since it would be easier to evoke the dank, dark, putrid underground (which may be the Tube to all of us commuters). I am now a Gaiman fan (that did sound right, didn't it?) and I wish someone would give me another book of his for Christmas. To my employee who gave me this, I am eternally grateful for introducing me to your world.

Related articles

• Theatre Review: Next Fall Hits Close to the Heart
• Appreciating Anthony Strano's Thoughts: On Faith
• Nina Arianda: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

I Want To Go To Sri Lanka!

I was watching this leg of the recent Amazing Race Asia, and their stop for this leg was Colombo, Sri Lanka!  It's one of the places I would like to visit.  In this leg of the race, the teams went to the Gangaramaya Temple where they were blessed. I'd like to visit that, as well as the Independent Square.  Then, I'd like to pass by the Pettah Fish Market, to just see what kinds of fish are being caught in Sri Lanka.  Of course, in my fantasy trip, I'd like to stay in style so I'd like to stay at the Hilton!

Outing Some High-Profile Celebrities

This past week, two high profile celebrities have been placed on the spotlight again, this time, with rumors that they are gay.  The young actor-dancer was thought to be caught red-handed exposing himself, which if he did, is entirely his business.  What makes it tittilating to everyone in gay-dom, is that he flashed it before another guy (or guys) through the chat rooms in the net!  The other petit congressman, who has always been rumored to be gay, is again placed on the hot seat, this time because he has been conspicuously absent in the halls of Congress.  Well, I can't blame them for not coming out.  Being a straight celebrity is hard enough, having to play with the same sex makes it even harder since it's fodder for more gossip and rumor.  However, so what if they're gay?  They haven't committed any crimes.  Maybe they may have hurt some people in their personal lives for not disclosing everything, but who are we to judge.  As if we disclose everything also, in our own personal lives.  I guess it's the thought of being titillated that makes us enjoy such games of outing those who slip.