And her name is Ophelia

When I was 13 years old, my grandmother pulled me in the kitchen and ordered my mother out of the kitchen. She asked me to look in the dictionary and explain what a malignant tumor means.

I was good with understanding the definitions more than the family members could. So I guess my grandmother relied on me for a clear definition. I read the term and was not happy with the definition. I explained to my grandmother that malignant indicated her tumor will spread.

She stared at me and sighed, "Go and get your mother, please."

From that point, a lot of drama ensued in the next 9 months. She died in late September, 1987. My grandfather was consummated with grief to a point where he got a stroke. Ugh. Like I said, it was such a drama.

Mom was simply hysterical because she was what I'd say, "Mama's Girl". Shortly, Mom said that we needed to head to Winston-Salem, NC to share the news with Ophelia.

I asked her who she is. Her response was, "Oh, Ophelia used to be my mom's maid. She is deaf black woman, who was inseparable with your grandmother. She lives in a nursing home, is now blind as well."

Later, I found out the information that back then, my grandmother was so bad at cleaning and cooking. She decided to bring Ophelia as a maid to do the chores. Things evolve over the time, they became close friends. Ophelia taught my grandmother of southern fried food (bad, bad, bad and bad) which I absolutely loved, even today. Things that you might see in my family's antics probably stemmed from Ophelia. This is odd because at that time, they lived in Raleigh -- a southern city which advocated the segregation. But deafness was the reason they sticked it out together.

Ophelia married but never had children. Mom drove to Winston-Salem, NC and visited Ophelia in a nursing home. Told her the news that my grandmother died. She was heartbroken. She kept on signing, "No, not Virginia! Not her!"

Suffice to say, Ophelia died about a week later as well.

Things like this made our lives mysterious and interesting.


Uncle Sandy and Ophelia

R-

Defrocking Schrock et al

Let's stand up and give a round of applause to blogACTIVE for its great work in outing Congressman Ed Schrock (Republican - Virginia). You guys rock! I'm going to link you to my blog.

Hypocrties, beware. This is the total war from now on. We will not deal with a person like Roy Cohn ever again.

Speaking of Republicans, last night, I watched the RNC coverage for 15 minutes. I was pretty sick to my stomach. It is dominated by white trash, leaning towards the radical right and obsessed with the war on terrorism. Actually, terrorism can be solved, not through by force, but by education and reduce the poverty. It means what? Reforms. We can prevent terrorisms by doing these things -- but the Republicans are so narrow in their right that they are right, and we are wrong.

Get a clue, oops -- they cannot.

I cannot stand them so I changed the channel to watch the rerun of Friends. Says a lot.

Ed Koch himself is gay. And he's senile. That's why he is voting for Bush. No sane gay man wanted a senile, ugly and bitter man.

Today, there will be several civil disobediences across the city -- prepare to hear the mass arrests for reasons as little as crossing a street or sneezing!

Rudy and others are merely exploiting 9/11 tragedy for votes. It is despicable.

It is true that Kerry and Bush are not exactly great candidates, I prefer Kerry because of his flexibility. The ability to make decisions that can make a positive impact not only on the United States but around the world. Bush has been making decisions for himself, his party, his friends and his businesses. He alienated the rest of the world, many countries loathed this country because of our association with Bush. It is extremely important that the voters fired the administration to remove the hatred the world has for the Americans. Pretty much, we are not only living in the United States, we are living in this world. That means what? We have to work with each country to get along, not to alienate each other.

Bush does not see that way. People needs to see that when Colin Powell attempts to visit Athens for the Olympics closing ceremony, people protested. When Bush visited Berlin, people protested. When Bush visited Atlantis, people protested. Everyone does not like Bush. So it is time for him to stand aside and fade into obscurity.

But the problem is that Bush does not listen. He does not listen to the rest of the world except for himself, his family, his friends and his businesses.

R-

Guess Who?

16 years old and senior in high school

Bobbie & Avery

While at work, I was doing some paperworks -- somehow I thought of Bobbie, my former houseparent at VSD. She was absolutely great. She is Deaf woman who graduated from Gallaudet some years before I did.

She now teaches at VSD, I believe. But back then, she was a temporary houseparent. There was a shower room where there are six stalls, 1 bathtub (but nobody uses it), 8 sinks and one standing urinal. The standing urinal is for male students who woke up in the morning and went to the shower room to shower but could not hold the piss -- so it was a quickie urinal.

Back then, female houseparents are permitted to barge in the shower room and toilet area, of course, to make sure that nobody is doing "naughty" thing.

One boring Sunday afternoon, I woke up from a nap. My dorm bedroom was right next to the shower room. I had to piss so bad. I cannot walk down the hallway to the toilet area. So off to the standing urinal I went. I violently pushed the door open as it banged on the tiles and created a loud vibration inside the bathroom ... when I entered the room, the door slammed back into where it belonged. God, I love these thick doors. So loud wham-bams!

I stood and pissed. Ahhhh. I turned to see one stall out of six stalls whose the shower curtains were closed. I yelled with a high-pitched voice because it will cause a loud vibration bouncing off the tiles. Sure enough, Avery pushed the curtain open and said, "What? I'm busy."

Avery was kneeling. I grinned, "Who are you sucking?"

"Brian. Shh!"

Brian peeked out and snickered. I rolled my eyes. He pulled back inside. Avery said, "If anyone comes in, yell or create something loud so we can stop, ok?"

I nodded.

As I was nearly done with pissing, Bobbie came in. I was never shy when it comes to piss in front of Bobbie -- she may be the only female in the world that I can piss in front of. Bobbie said, "Anyone here?"

She pointed to the curtain-closed stall, "Who's there?"

I yelled so loud that the vibrations bounced off against the tiles. Avery should be able to hear or feel this, at least. I yelled twice. Bobbie turned to look at me quickly, "What was that for?"

I tried to talk about something else, but she was walking towards the stall. I tried to stall her but she pulled the curtains open.

Avery was kneeling down with Brian's dick in his mouth. Avery was stunned that he did not pull himself out. Brian was also stunned and did not pull it out as well. I looked at the whole shit with horror. Avery then pushed Brian out, his dick popped out of Avery's mouth.

"Did you plan to have safe sex?" Bobbie asked casually.

Avery nodded, Brian pulled his pants up. I snickered. Bobbie said, "There is no point in telling what to do about it, just finish it up and see me."

Bobbie left. At that moment, Brian and Avery lost the motivation to continue this escapade.

But this is the funniest sex-bust I ever had witnessed. Avery's face was absolutely priceless.

Later, I talked with Bobbie about why she did not bawl at them for doing this? Bobbie said, "For what? They are both 18. They are sexually active. They have to deal with me in private after they re done with this. I do not think it is appropriate to stop someone from having sex with each other while they are in the midst of it. Just wait 'til they are done, then I'll administer some kind of consequences."

I knew I loved Bobbie from that point on.

R-

You know ...

Today I walked to work like I normally did on a daily basis. Normally at 8:45 AM, East Village is pretty dead except for the commuters. Most people are either in bed, recuperating from drinking or drugs. Did I just generalize the East Village people? I did, I was being sarcastic. But today was bit different, people were pumped. They were alert and excited. They were thrilled to have the opportunity to bash these Republican idiots who thought they deserved the "welcome mat" in this town. If I heard that the Republicans got mugged, I'll say that they deserved it. They sucked the middle and lower classes out, so it is their turn to mug it back.

One elder lady had a poster as she walked me by, "Vote for Kerry, Bush is Satan!"

I love this town already.

Last Friday, there was a news report that GW Bush actually dodged the draft when he seeked a Democrat to help him out. No controversy these days. Why? It is a hypocrite. When Bill Clinton was accused of dodging the draft, Republicans were brutal. But not GW Bush? Hypocrites.

What really pissed me the most is that one reporter noticed the lavish freebies at Madison Square Garden with free fancy food and alcoholic beverages. The reporter asked the RNC organization where they get the money from? Their response was: "We do not have to answer this question."

The only option to find out where our money went will be in October when the audit comes out. I suspect the Republicans are using our money for their pleasure. Somebody has to kick their asses.

So far, Bush has not impressed me with anything else. He is using 9/11 tragedy to promote that he's doing such a good job. Pitiful strategy but it is working with these backward idiots back in the Midwest and in the South.

My friend just informed me that the Union Square is still vibrating with protests. Gotta check it out after work.

I just read the reports that Nardicio, a guy who promoted these wacky Triple XXX events, mentioned that Gov. McGreevey's former lover, Golan Cipel -- who claimed that he is heterosexual and that he was just sexual harassed by Gov. McGreevey -- that Golan was "frequent" at Nardicio's events. What does it sounds like? A Republican closet-case.

I got the message that Benis is coming back to NYC this week. Whatever suits him well, he has been delaying bit too long to a point where I am not sure anymore.

Oh, yeah, the site meter informed me that I've passed 10,000 level where people viewed my blog. Thanks for reading my thoughts which is, at times, bizarre, filthy and funny. Up next is 20,000. :-)

Guys, guys. I am contemplating about taking a week vacation to Phoenix in October. If that is the case, expect the reports out of Phoenix for a week. But as soon as I can, I am heading out to New Hampshire or Vermont for few days of vacation. That sounds good? It is.

R-

There Is Something About Dawn Staley

When I was 14 or 15, I became infatuated with Virginia Cavaliers' Women Basketball team. Holt, Hawkins, Carter and Anderson were in their last year at UVa and they lost to Tennessee in Elite Eight. I was worried about the next year's edition.

Darrell Avery barged in my dormitory bedroom so violently that the thick door banged on the wall and back to the other wall. He then saw the metal trash can and kicked it -- it flew across the room -- when it crashed on the wall, it created a loud vibration that I cannot ignore ... I stared at Darrell. He said, "Good news! Dawn Staley signed with Virginia!"

Who is Dawn Staley? I asked him, he stared at me and his voice boomed as he signed rapidly: She is the best player ever to come to Virginia!! Watch out!! Funny zero!!

Fast forward to a year later, Dawn Staley made an impact as a freshman at Virginia. But I hadn't gotten a chance to watch her play. Then an opportunity comes up as Virginia was playing 4th-ranked team, Maryland Terrapins. As I was sitting to watch the first few minutes of the game, I was impressed with Dawn Staley in the first 20 seconds of the game as she swiped a ball for a basket right after the tip-off of the game. As Maryland attempted to inbound the ball to another player, Dawn then stole the ball again and banked in another basket.

Wow. I became a fan of Dawn Staley ever since. There are times that she made me mad. Staley loves to pass more than score a basket. In one game, it was inevitable that she has to score in order to beat one team, who else? Maryland. Coach Ryan jokingly made a threat that if she does not score enough, she'll walk back home tonight. Sure enough, Staley got the message and scored 24 points in an upset of No. 1 Maryland. I was at the game in front of 14,500 plus crowd, it was awesome to see thousands of fans being devastated with their home team as Virginia pulled the carpet to win the game.

Today, Dawn Staley indicated that she is done with the Olympics. She gathered 3 gold medals and unbeatable in international competitions since '94. In 1992, the USOC decided not to pick Dawn Staley for Barcelona '92 Olympics. The local papers in Virginia and DC ridiculed the USOC decision. The USA team then lost to the Russians. Then in '94, they decided to bring her on. Ever since, they never lost in a span of 205 games.


Staley Celebrating For The Last Time as Olympian
Staley came from Philadelphia's poor neighborhood and she had nothing but her dignity. She just conquered the world for 10 years. As of now, she is playing for WNBA's Charlotte Stings. And she also is the Head Coach of Temple Owls.

It is my hope that someday, she will return to Charlottesville as the Head Coach of Virginia Cavaliers.

R-

Plenty of Protests

I was supposed to meet a certain person at Sheridan Square to join the march to protest Bush and his cronies' invasion of the island today. I overslept by an hour. I strolled westward (only one and half block away) to Union Square. It was pretty packed. So many posters, so many people to check out.

I was not impressed with NYPD or the "security guys". They had the helicopters swarming along with a blimp hovering above the marchers.

Last Friday, I was on 14 Street when I saw a large group of cyclists known as "Critical Mass" passing by, they do this once a month on the last Friday of the month to swarm the city on their bicycles to promote the awareness of cycling needs in this town. Suddenly, the NYPD cops were all over them and started to arrest them for reasons unknown to me at the time. Later, NYPD claimed that they were interferring with the traffic. That is *bullshit*.

Yes, some cyclists chanted against Bush, but they were not interferring the traffic, they were going along with the traffic. I saw it with my eyes. Mayor Bloomberg is a Republican whom the residents regret voted for in the first place. Mayor Bloomberg wanted to look good right before the start of Republican National Convention.

Today at the March, I observed the numbers -- one reported 250K which I agreed because it is so dense. One said 10K, that is rubbish. If it is 10K, there would be plenty of empty spaces there and over there. But it was not. It was packed. I even cannot find any friends or any one I knew.

The truth is that the Republicans lacked the guts. They sent the poor guys to wars to do the deed for their needs. The Republicans needed the massive security to protect themselves from the angry mass of American people who are fed up with their antics.

Why do you think VP Dick Cheney chose Ellis Island as a place to arrive and talk to the press? It is because he knew that we cannot reach him at Ellis Island. He is avoiding us.

President Bush will come on Thursday for few hours then flee the city. See? He is afraid of us. He knew that he did a lot of despicable things to Americans and the world and yet, he surrounded himself with his friends to act like he is doing the "good thing".

He is not.

He is a coward cocksucker.

R-

Doping

The Olympics in Athens has concluded today. So many good stuff happened, so many bad stuff happened.

Honestly, it was disheartening to read the doping reports coming out of Athens which stripped some athletes of their medals almost on a daily basis. Why can't they prepare these BEFORE arriving in Athens? These athletes has no dignity, only greed.

Today, I just read the papers that a runner in the Marathon was tackled by a defrocked-Irish priest. I wonder how Ireland reacted to this? I'm sure they are embarassed that one of their hotheads just did it.

Paul Hamm is still hot. Phelps is OK if you cover his teeth. Hermann of Argentina is hot, too. Plus, all guys who played in Water Polo are extremely hot. Thanks for the show, Athens.

See ya in Beijing, guys. I won't be there, nor wanted to. But after seeing Atlanta, Sydney and Athens on the tube, I want New York to win the 2012 bid so I can check out these "athletes" at bars/clubs/restaurants -- eye candy can be so great. By 2012, there is no telling that I might be hottie or a troll.

Ahh.

R-

EMERGENCY!!

After talking with my older, hearing brother, Billy Jr online for an hour -- he shocked me something else. That I actually thought I just saw Beth's Pride and Joy flashing at me.

I had to talk to someone. I had to tell someone. I need to see a counselor. Except that I do not have my counselor. So I decided to blog.

You know, Billy Jr is a die-hard Republican which I find it to be abhorrent.

But he said, "I am Republican, but I support abortion and gay marriage. Do you understand me?"

What? Did I hear this correctly? My fuckin' redneck brother supports abortion and gay marriage??? I told him, "But that is not the platform Republicans wanted, anyway." He said it all comes down to limited government, that he is concerned the most. Whatever he says. But I'm still nursing my head wound when he mentioned that he supports abortion and gay marriage.

Then he said he had to sign off to eat the dinner that my sister-in-law cooked before hitting the road for a vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I typed, LOL. He said, "Why LOL?"

I shot back and I think I caused him to have a head wound as I said, "Oh, I'm just reminiscing old times' sake. Was in Myrtle Beach two years ago with Mark and I fucked a married man. Mark nearly caught us with our pants down."

His response: "Gross, me out."

R-

350th Entry: Paul Hamm Is In Town

This is my 350th entry. If I reach 365 entries before September 14, that would mark 1 entry per day, because that date is the day I started blogging.

International Gymnastics Federation has to back off from hounding Paul Hamm. Paul does not have to surrender his gold medal. It is all that idiotic Celizic's fault for writing up an article, urging Hamm to surrender his gold medal out of a goodwill gesture. BACK OFF! LEAVE HAMM ALONE!

The comments, "Back Off" reminded me of a cheapskate drama that occured when I worked as Summer Resident Advisor at Peet Hall. This happened when a friend got an IM from Mark to "back off". My friend did not understand nor know why Mark said so. Then I asked Mark what's going on. He shot back, "Back off! Stay out of this!" I told him that I will not get involved, but honestly, no one understands this. No one. Mark said, "Back off! Don't you understand me? Back off!"

I shrugged off on this, but Dorian, who was in the office, persisted to find out why -- one thing led to the other, it escalated the whole thing into a huge fight as nobody knew why Mark said "back off" but it nearly costs the friendship between me and Mark ... all over two words: Back off.

Today, I still do not know the reasons why Mark said "back off" to Bray. So guys, back off!

Oh, yeah, it was reported that Paul Hamm was in town. And guess where he was "seen"?

At the Chelsea Piers. Go figure. It'd be nice that we play together. *sigh*

R-

Good Riddance, Dream Team

It is done. You are finished, Dream Team. Coach Brown, good riddance to thee and thy team.

Go and play for Bronze. You guys are pitiful. But again, so does the NBA.

As for USA Women's Basketball, there is a poll on msnbc.com which appalled me the most -- 11,515 polled that 95% voted for USA to beat Australia.

My bet is on Lauren Jackson and Australia winning the gold.

R-

The Drama at Union Square

Last night, the local news mentioned that lots of protests will crisscross, organize and end at Union Square. My eyes widened. I live 1 and half block from the prestigious Union Square. This is going to be climatic weekend for me to sit back and observe the batons being so useful.

My greatest fear is that NYPD cops might overdo their antics (they always do!) and harm innocent people who tried to get their message across to the idiots.

I wonder if GW Bush realized that he is not appreciated nor welcomed in this town? I wonder if he realized that there are many people who wanted to kick his butt? To crush his blinding ego and to challenge him without him using the legal or financial avenues?

These stuff made me want to puke at GW Bush.

Last night, 11 members of ACT UP decided to bare the truth to the world by stripping themselves naked on 8th Avenue by Madison Square Garden -- they had the words on their chest and back that reads: ERASE THE DEBT! STOP AIDS! They were subsequently arrested for blocking the traffic.

I saw the TV report that a massive poster was tied up in the air at the luxury hotel right next to Central Park that reads "<==== BUSH, TRUTH ====>" -- indicating that Bush told lies, Truth still stands outside of the fray. How true. The reports indicated that people cheered when the rappellers pulled the stunt.

More to come -- some people said that they will cause some drama at Brooklyn Bridge to divert the attention of NYPD in order to wreck the RNC.

Drama, drama, drama!

For it has began last night.

R-

P.S. To amuse yourself, check this out -- www.harmlessdevon.com -- there is something wrong with this guy, he crashed (probably due to drugs, but he did not mention) -- he went homeless, was forcibly committed to the state hospital, was jailed, was carjacked and all that shit in few days -- or weeks) and he still blogged. Wow.

Who Is Lauren Jackson?

Now it is down to Australia-USA in the Finals of Women's Basketball in Athens. Five years ago, Lauren Jackson was regarded as the one that will be regarded as the best player in the world. Even better than Teresa Edwards, Lisa Leslie (she's just stupid overrated girl!) and Diana Taurasi (too much publicity does not make her the best player, lezzies!).

I heard about Lauren Jackson about five years ago as she completely dominated the whole continent down under. As a teenager, that is. She is gorgeous, blonde at 6'5 who can dribble very well, can pull a fadeaway shot, can drill a 3-pointer from anywhere. She is not skinny. She is lean player who can crash the boards when she wants to.

Lauren Jackson did not go to US schools to play its collegiate women's basketball, considered to be one of the most competitive fields for collegiate women's basketball in the world. Facing the USA team for the first time 4 years ago in Sydney, Lauren Jackson fared very well but her teammates did not. So the USA team won the gold medal.

Since then, Lauren Jackson opted to go straight to the WNBA and played for Seattle Storm for three seasons. Not even Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson or Yolanda Griffith can stop her as she averaged 20 points per game and 9 rebounds per game. She is only 23 years old.

Now Lauren Jackson is going to play the USA team in the finals. As much as I wanted the USA team to win, I suspect Lauren Jackson is going to dominate the USA and win the gold for the Aussies. They had no problem handling every opponent, no game was very close. They just beat Brazil to get in the finals, 88-75. Jackson had 26 points and 13 rebounds. She is ready for the USA team.


Lauren Jackson, never mind the odd uniforms -- it's the way Aussies do it.

Go Lauren! Go USA!

On other hand, I'm glad that Swoopes and Staley signed "3" correctly. Leslie needs to be slapped for signing the wrong one.


Swoopes said 3! Leslie said .... ? Staley said 3!

R-

The Calm Before The Storm

This month is very surreal. August is normally the hottest and humidest month of the year in Manhattan. But it is cool. I even had sex with someone else without getting too sticky. I even slept with a thick blanket. Something is up in the air.

Which brings me to mention this -- there was an episode of a fight between Dominique and Alexis on a nighttime soap opera TV show called Dynasty. It was reported that Joan Collins refused to participate in physical fights because of her age, so the producers decided to insert a stuntwoman, but forced Diahann Carroll (who played Dominique) to stand facing the camera while the back of Alexis' hair was only showed.

What happened is that Dominique slapped Alexis after she got offended by what Alexis said. Alexis retaliated by pushing her on the bed. Dominique fell on the bed, but pulled Alexis down as well -- then they went rumble onto the floor, picked up the lamp and tossed it towards Dominique (always missed, though!) and crashed on the wall, causing the large frame to crash on the floor as well. In the process of a struggle, they broke a vase then fell on a coffeetable, breaking it in two.

All in all, when it was done ... you could see the lingering effects of chaos in the room after a rumble between Dominique and Alexis. The bed damaged, the wall ripped, the frame broken, the vase gone, the lamp destroyed, the coffeetable damaged ...

I suspect that something will happen like this next week during the GOP National Convention here in Manhattan. Somebody needs to tell these freaks that they are NOT welcomed here in this town. Nobody wanted them here. Nobody liked them here. Nobody wanted to deal with the Republicans here in this town.

Such a drama. Can't wait, of course.

R-

Coach Brown, you are pitiful

With the USA Basketball Team up by 11 with 23 seconds left, USA Head Coach Larry Brown called a timeout. What was that for, Coach Brown? Was that one of your tactics to rub the salt in the Spaniards' pride, who went 5-0 before losing to USA, knocking them out of medal contention?

I was glad to know that the coach of Spanish National Team had some words for Coach Brown.

Coach Brown's comments regarding the timeout with 23 seconds left was lame. Coach Brown, you coached for many years -- and it is new to you? Please don't give me that excuse. You did this to rub the salt in their pride. Anyone who coaches in this sport for more than 20 years knew that routine -- it is to prolong the game in order to stroke their egos and to rub the salt on the losing team.

You are pitiful, Coach Brown.

R-

Here is an excerpt of what Coach Brown said:
Brown said: “Hopefully I’ll learn to handle these situations, which are new to me, a little bit better.

“It was like having an argument with my son. I tried to explain but he just wouldn’t listen. I called the time out and then saw the clock and tried to cancel it, but (the officials) wouldn’t let me. I tried to explain this to (Pesquera), that I meant no disrespect.”

A Brief Visit

Last night, a certain friend flew in from Louisiana and spent 11 hours with me before hopping on the Chinese bus service down to Washington. That girl sported a brand-new hairdo that surprised me. Tabitha looked gorgeous. No more curls, no more dye smats all over her hairdo.

Of course, we caught up with each other about everything else. We went to few bars just to sit and chat. It was nice to come in a bar with Tabitha who just turned 21 recently with *no* problems at all.

This morning, I bid her farewell as she rode the Chinese bus to the District, to resume her studies at Gallaudet.

Good to see you, Tabitha!

R-

Assortment of Subjects To Talk About

You know, some Russians whined that the gymnastics were already decided before they competed in which the hunky Aleksei Nemov (Remember the famous shirtless photo in Atlanta '96?) and the anorexic Khorkina complained to the press and federation about what happened with the gymnastics. Well, I should mention that what they sow, they repent. Remember the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City? It was found that a French Judge were pressured by the Russians to help them to win the gold medals over the ones who deserved the most -- the Canadians. So it makes sense this time to do this back to the Russians. The karma can be so cruel, Russians. Deal with it. Next time, don't start it. Oh, Khorkina, pop some depakote tablets.

To keep your mind light for the day? Read Dan Savage's column this week -- this is hugely hilarious. I thought I had it much worse. IN my case, my parents were pretty deadly blunt. My father did not like to talk about sex, but my mother was different. She slammed her hands on the table to get my attention. She said, "YOU KNOW YOUR PENIS??? YOU KNOW HOW TO GET A GIRL PREGNANT??? YOU PUT YOUR PENIS IN A WOMAN'S VAGINA -- NO NO, NO GIRL HAS PENIS! ONLY VAGINA! ONLY VAGINA!! YOU UNDERSTAND ME? WHEN YOU'RE 12 OR OVER, WHEN YOU PUSH YOUR PENIS IN A GIRL'S VAGINA, YOU CAN CAUSE HER PREGNANT. THAT IS WHY YOU CANNOT DO THIS! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT!! YOU WILL MAKE ME FURIOUS AND DISOWN YOU, YOU UNDERSTAND ME????"

But I care less. At that time, I knew I liked boys. I think the females were put on Earth by mistake (and still do, hee hee!).

But there are other funny stories. Masturbation stories. One time, a friend told me that we need to use something to jerk off. He suggested the Dial soap -- I did it -- when I spewed, I had to restrain myself from screaming in pain -- the soap went inside the hole and it fuckin' burned.

Later, my friend warned me not to overdo the lotion because it will make my dick ... soft and impotent! What am I supposed to do? Using my spit? That is a good idea. Not.

Ahh, there is famous tale that often happens at deaf schools. The joke goes, "My doctor said that if I jerk off all the time, the palm that I used will grow hair on it!" Often, we would look at each other's palms to make sure that we did not grow hair on it. It was a prank. Very good one. Remember, guys?

Teenagers.

R-

Internalized Homophobia?

I love Shane. He's intelligent and calm. When I am erratic, moody or prissy, it is always nice to talk with Shane even for few minutes. He has a blog of his own at www.happilystuckinithaca.com. However, he mentioned something on his blog earlier in the week which I brought it up -- he commented, "It is internalized homophobia, you have to route it out."

I was set back by what he said. The more I think about it, he is right. I have an internalized homophobia. You see, when I get sick, I immediately get worked up and wondered if it is the one I dread all along -- HIV/AIDS. I do not like it -- yes, I get tested routinely but it still makes me paranoid. You never know. And Shane said it is internalized homophobia.

You see, internalized homophobia occured when a person that gets the message that considered gay sex to be wrong. That gay sex is associated with HIV/AIDS. That gay sex is bad. More of when one grew up with the notion of the message -- it hindered a healthy relationship between this particular person with anyone else in particular. I grew up having to deal with my parents, misguided educators, misguided preachers and misguided conservatives who went out so hard to define what I feel is bad, is always bad.

So when I get sick, I get worked up, assuming that this is the one that I will get it. But the reality is that today, I still combat the internalized homophobia. It's all inside my mind and soul. Like Shane said, "You have to route it out," and I have to find a way or something to route it out. Any suggestions?

Oh, by the way, Shane, sorry about the bird thing. It happened to me when I was in San Francisco. God, I was horrified, mortified and embarrassed.

Last night, I saw a cute guy. He stared at me like a cat on a mouse. He introduced himself. I stared at him. He's Martin. From Johannesburg, South Africa. Has six abs. Asked him if he chose wrong person? He laughed and shook his head and pointed at my chest to confirm that it is me he is after.

We chatted. He's smart fella. A professor at UVa. Umm. Small world because I am quite fond of UVa. He got a solid body. He mentioned that he played rugby. Oooo. I mentioned that I got a soft body. He nodded and said, "That's why I... [pointed his finger at my chest]."

Ok, ok. I get it. He is young, but his eyes reminded me of Ed Harris. Hot. Very hot. He mentioned that he got out of a long-term relationship and realized that he does not believe in heteronormative relationship any longer.

Heteronormative? Oh, one that imitates heterosexual behaviors.

Whatever works for him. And me. Suffice to say, I had a good time with Martin. It is rare that I get to meet and chat with intelligent guy with common sense.

R-

4:45 AM EST

As bright moon shined in the middle of the night, I groggily woke up at 4:45 AM. Whoa, I fell asleep at 9:30 PM last night. Suddenly, I knew why I woke up at 4:45 AM, it is because my body was shrieking for a glass of water.

I pushed myself out of bed -- landed my feet on the floor in the darkness, searching for flip-flop shoes. Found it, and walked over to the fridge to pull out the large bottle of water and poured the water into a plastic cup. I quickly gulped down my throat. Again, I poured the cold water into the cup and drank it fast.

I headed back to the bed, I saw the bright moon on my right. I looked around the buildings that surrounds my bedroom on 6th floor. My eyes widened when I saw one particular window with all lights on. Four naked guys. Fucking each other. I blinked my eyes to make sure that I'm not crazy. No, I'm not crazy. They are over there. I watched for a minute or two -- they're all pretty bois. Not my type. Very ugly -- actually, I mistook them for women because of smooth bodies. But I realized that they probably shaved it -- absolutely gross.

I was too tired to videotape or jerk off -- so I just went back to bed. I dozed off until the sun replaced the moon in its place.

Ahh, welcome to New York.

R-

Men Are Pigs -- I mean, FDNY

Last night, the air conditioner at our workplace backfired and caused a billowing smoke right outside of our office. It prompted someone to dial 911. One of our co-workers rushed to take care of the ailing air conditioner which spewed its last cold breaths.

Suddenly, our heads turned to see the massive red trucks with red flashes rolling in on our street -- "Who called these damned FDNY?!" Char asked. I counted three trucks, Char shook her head and said, "Five." I grinned and rolled my eyes.

These massive, rugged looking, horny men from the local FDNY entered our office to check upon the air conditioner who died in a bang. I stood and cruised these men. I smirked, not because they re gods. I smirked, because they are idiots.

Why?

Since I moved to New York, I kept on hearing a lot of bad things about FDNY guys. Last December 31, 2003 -- one fireman whacked the other fireman with a metal chair in his face, and his team tried to cover it up. One fire truck crashed into a car, the FDNY driver was found to have cocaine in his body. One firehouse was busted for having lots of alcohol and drugs stashed in a locker. A FDNY Captain was busted for drinking during on-duty performance. There were 28 DWIs issued for FDNY firefighters since last year. Not only that, it was reported that more than 30 firefighters divorced their wives and married the widows of 9/11 FDNY firefighters few months after the 9/11 incident. Not a long time ago, there was a FDNY firefighter who beats up on NYPD cop for stopping his car in a traffic incident.

And last, the most recent scandal occured last Saturday when a female person (or dog?) reported to NYPD that she was gang-raped by 4 FDNY guys at Bronx firehouse (fittingly known as Animal House), prompted a confusing investigation that shockingly mentioned that this same female has some kind of obsessive fixatation with NYPD and FDNY guys since 9/11. It was reported that since 9/11, it is possible that she opened her legs for more than 200 FDNY & NYPD men, who were more than willing to insert their dirty, sooty dicks in a misguided, psychotic woman's vagina (or ass, who knows?).

The top FDNY Chief swears there will be many heads rolling right after the investigation is done. Mayor Bloomberg denounced this outrageous behavior. I laughed a little, too little action is being done, too late. Every month, I seem to hear Mayor Bloomberg denouncing a firefighter for doing this, that and there.

Rest assured, since 9/11, the FDNY capitalized on our massive pity and support and ever since, they tried to operate above the law or morality. Now they are falling apart, but how much apart will they finally hit? I'm still waiting.

Actually, I am waiting for the next scandal. It is more exciting this way.

Oh, by the way, FDNY firefighters, thanks for stopping by last night. It was surely candy for our eyes.

R-

Again, Paul Hamm!

Such a drama with Paul Hamm regarding the point-system controversy.

Paul does not have to submit to Celizic's opinion. Paul, keep your medal.

I stumble upon Paul & Morgan Hamm's official website. Plenty of pictures to drool. Check it out at www.hamm-twins.com! Enjoy.

One interesting article that I enjoyed reading last week -- I found this again and I thought I'd share this -- Amy, care to comment on this?

I'm out for the day.

R-

A Weekend of Birthdays

I found out that Paul Hamm has a lisp voice. My hearing friends swear that he has to be gay or "something else"!! That increased the chances for me. Not.

Seeing Lithuania beating the United States Men's Basketball team was disheartening but the USA Team is not out of medal contention. As for USA Girls' Basketball team, they are untouchables. Ripping everyone else in sight, leaving no injuries behind. Just kill and move on.

Last weekend was a weekend of birthday parties -- Katie, Sarah and Donna's parties. Ahh. My $$ goes empty so fast. C'est la vie. It was fun dining at KumGangSan, as per Sarah's commented, "It is easy to remember KumGangSan by "Cum Gang San".

Guess who was in town? Rayni and her husband, Eric. Rayni looked fabulous as usual. We chit-chatted for a while. I was heavily buzzed after leaving the Bowlorama. Damn the Stella Artemis! Rayni seemed to enjoy living in Sioux Falls, middle of nowhere in South Dakota. She filled me in on some tidbits about who's who all over the world. My brain was pretty much filled up.

Hey, I have two bodyguards to take care of my homeland security. Here is the proof.



R-

Quote of the Weekend

Last Saturday at Bowlorama on University Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street, I mingled with my co-workers who partied and bowled for Donna's 50th Birthday Celebration. That girl is 50, but she looks like 35 or so.

Needless to say, we were pretty crazy on that evening.

However, there were several shelves of pins sitting with many autographs by famous persons. I browsed around while gulping the beer as well as belching some (I had to because the bowling alley is so straight!), I was amused when I saw Richard Jefferson's quote on a pin. Richard is currently playing for the USA Men's Basketball team in Athens, Greece. He also plays for New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. Richard impressed me with his keen thoughts on the game itself.

R-

An Article About My Parents

Hopewell couple named deaf parents of the year

By MARK DORROH
News Staff Writer
August 17, 2004

Members of the Richmond Chapter of the Virginia Association of the Deaf named Billy Taylor Sr., Deaf Father of the Year and his wife Deanna, Deaf Mother of the Year, during a recent ceremony at Dockside restaurant in Prince George. It's the first time in the history of the VAD that a husband and wife team has been named Mother and Father of the Year.

Billy and Deanna live in Hopewell and have been married since 1962. Their award came in recognition of their role model status as parents and deaf Americans, serving the interests of the hearing-impaired community ofVirginia while rearing six children, two hearing, four deaf.

Deanna is retired from her job as a procurement clerk with Defense General Supply and is the current Richmond Chapter VAD Vice President and the newsletter editor for the Richmond Club for the Deaf. She also has spent considerable time and effort establishing a home for deaf senior citizens in the greater Richmond Metro area. In between those volunteer activities, she manages to find time for her hobbies of travel and fishing.

Billy spent most of his working career in printed communications. Upon graduation from the Virginia School for the Deaf in Staunton in 1955, he became the owner of a shoe repair shop in Ashland. After some years, he switched careers, becoming a Linotype operator at The Hopewell News in 1960 and later for the Washington Post. He returned to the greater Richmond Metroarea from Washington after 25 years and spent his last 17 full-time working years as an Optical Character Reader machinist for the Richmond Post Office.

His volunteer activities are many and varied: He is a past president and board member of the Richmond Club for the Deaf, as well as board member of the Virginia School For the Deaf Alumni Association. His leisure time activities include woodworking, photography, computers and collecting old pictures.

At Friday's awards banquet, Chapter President Allen Justice signed the text of the award while the Taylor's son, Billy Jr., performed the voice translation.

Billy Jr. and his wife live in Prince George while daughter Lily Mountjoy lives in Hopewell and daughter Karen Taylor lives in Richmond. Their daughter Hedy lives in Texas but currently is staying in Hopewell and the family's two youngest sons, Ricky and Gary, live in New York and Florida respectively.

Deanna was born deaf and Billy Sr. became deaf at the age of 2 after a bout of spinal meningitis. Billy Jr. said until he was 5, he thought everybody's parents were deaf. "So far as I was concerned, my growing up was normal," he explained. "Everybody I knew was deaf except my sister Karen."

Despite attending special schools, Billy Junior's brothers and sisters managed to remain in more or less constant touch with each other, which was possible because of changes made in how deaf schools are administrated.

"When my father was off at school during World War II, he'd only get home for holidays and summers," said Billy Jr. "But when we were growing up, my siblings came home every weekend."

Asked about developments in restoration of hearing through cochlear implants, Deanna and Billy Sr. come down firmly on the side of deaf culture. "I'm opposed to the implants," signed Billy Sr. "Any operation or implant has the potential for damage to the body."

Deanna signed, "I'm the way God made me, deaf, and I feel I should be proud of what I am."

Billy Jr. simply said he wouldn't change anything about his family. "If you've never heard a bird sing, you can't miss it," he said. "My father had his hearing and lost it, but he's still proud of being deaf."

© 2004 The Hopewell News All Rights Reserved.


Ridor's Note: There are several errors in this article. My parents were chosen by the STATE, not the Richmond Chapter -- the Richmond Chapter sponsored the banquet.

It is true that Mom loves to fish, I absolutely hate it when Mom said, "I'm going fishing, come with me so we can talk and fish." Then we sat on the pier by James River while Mom fished and yakked about this, that and there. Then picked up the fish and tossed it back in the river, then yakked. As for Dad, he does not collect old pictures, he collects old cameras!

Hedy is not in Hopewell, she is in Dallas. I'm bit disappointed that my hearing brother had to interpret. He shouldn't have done that -- he is there to share the parents' moments. *sigh*

Special schools?! Oh, gawd. Somebody give me a whiffle bat to beat up on Mark.

Sigh.

But overall, nice article, though.

R-

Paul Hamm, Marry Me!!

Let it be known that Michael Phelps is boring. His face is everywhere -- I'm sick of him. So fuck off, Phelps!!

But on other hand, Paul & Morgan Hamm, that is completely different story. They just captured my heart and hormones when they mentioned about their life-long goals and adventures in the barn. That was a great All-American story.

When Paul fell off the vault, I freaked out. I really felt for him. I mean, I really felt for Paul. I wanted him to win. I wanted him to. When he fell, I quickly stood up from the couch and walked back and forth -- thinking hard, "What to do? What to do?"

It was cool that Paul came back from 12th place to 1st. I was relieved and happy for him.

You rock, Paul! Marry me!

R-


Face The Adversity

Conquer The Adversity And You Stand On The Top Of The World!

"If you met him once, you knew him for life"

I was pulling some boxes out and clean up -- stumbled upon an old article regarding this deaf, illiterate man who frequented the deaf club -- the same person who introduced me to my favorite character in comic books -- Amethyst. Today, I have the tattoo of Amethyst on my left calf. All of this will not happen if not for Morton Adelanski. Here is the article which occurred right after Morton's death.

"If you met him once, you knew him for life"

By Bill Lohmann, Richmond Times-Dispatch

He was lying in a hospital bed at the Medical College of Virginia, recuperating from a collision with a truck. The truck survived and so did Morton Adelanski, which was no small feat seeing how Morton was 83 years old and on foot when the truck ran into him on West Broad Street three months ago.

So, here he was in the hospital a few weeks later, his left hand bandaged from where doctors had to amputate a finger.

He didn't care much for being in the hospital. He was too much a man of motion to be happy cooped up in one place for so long. But at least he had just about everything he needed right there. His beloved sister, Anne, with whom he lived, slept on a cot nearby. Pretty nurses were forever stopping by. A television flickered within a few feet. A bottle of ketchup sat on the window sill.

Morton lay there intently watching a talk show on the overhead TV.

He wore pajamas.

Black socks.

And black wing-tips.

Ready, apparently, for a quick getaway.

It was pure Morton.

* * *

Morton Adelanski, the deaf man who became one of Richmond's best-loved and most recognizable characters, made his final quick getaway last Wednesday. A massive heart attack took him quickly.

"It's rough," said his sister, Anne Chernack, who lived with Morton practically her entire life. "This house was Morton. When you walked in he'd tap you on the shoulder or kiss you on the head. We just enjoyed each other all the time. He's really missed.

"I've got to learn a new life for myself. At 77, I guess it's just part of growing up."

Richmond Circuit Judge T.J. Markow, whose family owned the florist shop where Morton worked for more than 50 years, delivered the eulogy at the funeral. He regaled the gathered with Morton stories, leaving them crying and laughing.

"It was wonderful," Anne Chernack said.

A point made by Markow was this:

If you met Morton once, you knew him the rest of your life.

A lot of us discovered that.

* * *

Though he couldn't hear, Morton lived a richer life than most. He was sweet and resilient, generous and intrepid. His heart made up for whatever his ears lacked.

He delivered newspapers and flowers, acquiring the nickname "Scooch" for the way he scooted from place to place. He silently sold ice cream and anything else at ballgames, scrawling the price on a sign he tacked onto his hat. Who needs to yell? His former boss said he never had a better salesman.

He traveled most anywhere, usually alone. He made regular jaunts to Las Vegas and even went on a cruise once. He absolutely loved buses.

When he wasn't riding, he was walking. He and his thumb were familiar to Richmond motorists; he hitchhiked everywhere.

He never learned to read or write and he didn't use formal sign language, but he never had trouble communicating. A conversation with Morton was like playing a game of charades. And nobody did it better. If Morton had ever stopped you on a sidewalk, grabbed your hand and kissed it, you would have come to the same assessment.

He loved wearing the wildest assortments of clothes. At the same time.

He hated wearing his false teeth.

Morton didn't worry much about first impressions.

Lasting ones, he knew, are the ones that count.

He was famous for giving presents -- trinkets he collected, somewhat-less-than-perfect flowers that wound up on the cutting-room floor, whatever -- to people he met along the way.

"Morton was one of a kind," said his sister Anne. "God bless him."

In preparing a 1995 article on Morton, I spent an evening with him and his family -- including Anne, another sister, Mary-Ann Ladin, and other relatives who doted on him his entire life. As I was leaving, Morton grabbed my arm and told me to stay on the front porch. He disappeared into the house and came back in a few minutes with a plaid baseball cap. He wanted me to have it, he insisted. It still sits on my computer monitor at the office.

For a man trapped in a world of silence, Morton's life resounded eloquently and loudly with those who knew him. He possessed and exhibited on a daily basis a quiet fearlessness and a simple dignity most of us can only wish for.

And he was a creature of habit, whether it was thumbing down Monument Avenue on weekday mornings at dawn or eating grits at Tony's. But no one -- other than Morton -- knew them all. In an age of cell phones and pagers and instant access to everyone and everything, his life had a delicious sort of mystery about it. Where had he been? Where was he going? How did he get there? Who knew. Morton would never tell.

We don't know what we missed.

But Morton always will.

*************************************

Guys, guys. Why did I talk about this? When I was a kid and attended the deaf club in downtown Richmond, my parents treated Morton like normal ... even if it was obvious that he cannot communicate very well with anyone else in particular but what mattered the most is that he always tried to get his message across, somehow and eventually.

I enjoyed him because he was famous for bringing hundreds of magazines and comic books to the club. How? Nobody knew how, someone said someone saw Morton getting in 7-11 store which is a block away from the deaf club and the manager saw him and told him to go in the back and pick it up. He did the deed and brought it to the club and distribute it to everyone else.

When he died, his sister left Morton's monies to the deaf club. The folks were surprised but again, I was not surprised. The club was the place where Morton can be himself as a Deaf person.

Why didn't he learn ASL nor read and write? He became deaf when he was 8 or 9 on a farm in the Czech Republic and fled the Nazism atrocities -- he never had the time to go to school to learn. He only had the time to survive escape the Nazis.

When he arrived in the United States during the World War II, he just walked into the Markow Florist Shop and picked up the broom and worked there for 50 years. He was not even interviewed, he just hired himself in the florist shop.

These little things will *never* happen again in this modern society.

Some lucky things do happen to good people, I guess.

R-

Hamm, Drunkard, Paris Hilton

Why is that people checked google.com and typed anything with "gay" in it along with "Paul & Morgan Hamm" and directed to my blogsite?

I never said that they are gay. It is true that I think they are hot, gorgeous and all that. But I never said they are gay.

And I was happy for Paul Hamm who came from behind at 12th place to win the gold medal in Athens. They also showed a bit of the Hamms' Barn -- it is HUGE. Paul deserved it -- even I wanted Morgan to be part of this -- but I'm sure he is. When Paul learned that he won the gold, he was floored, excited, bewildered and pumped up. And humbled. That is sexy. Way to go, Paul!!

I watched the swimming meets, it is becoming of a rivalry these days between the United States and Australia -- very healthy, if you ask me -- but what made me look at Aussies differently is that its population is only 27 millions and the United States has 250-plus millions, and yet Aussies were able to compete with us very well. Kudos to Aussies.

There is an article that you guys will enjoy -- have fun reading this! Obviously, this one has a good taste -- the local ale is always better than the cheap beer.

Some of you asked me why I termed Melmira as Deaf Paris Hilton -- after chatting with a friend, we agreed that she dressed very well. She always look gorgeous and loves to shop. Like Paris Hilton -- I hadn't met a deaf woman who does that *all* the time. So I decided to use the term on her. It is a compliment, really.

Speaking of Paris Hilton, she is lucky that her dog, Tinkerbell, was found safely. Next time, it won't be. She lives in the area where there are plenty of coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats. Paris, next time, you'll see Tinkerbell butchered.

R-

Addendum to Bass

I should mention something about Bass Hall. If you drive towards Staunton on Route 250, you'll see the Toyota dealership that went out of business on your right side, park it by the fence overlooking the downtown, Mary Baldwin College and my deaf school. You shall see the main building, appropriately called the Main Hall sitting on the top of the hill while other buildings sits closer to it -- Bass Hall sits right next to Main Hall on the right -- it is the tallest building in the area, perhaps in all of deaf schools, 7-stories high.

Today, there is a federal kaw that prohibits a school that goes beyond 4-stories high as per safety reasons. But my deaf school has a grandfather clause because it was built before the law was enacted.

It is remarkable to mention that in its existence of the dormitory, no deaths occured for many years ... until last year. You know, what happened is that there was a female student who returned to VSD from a weekend at her family's home. She went to 6th floor and jumped off and was dead on its impact. VSD students and staff were thrown into turmoil and confusion. Some people accused VSD of causing her to do that -- later, it was found that she was a lesbian and came home to tell her family about it -- her family is religious nuts -- and they were pretty harsh on her all weekend long so when she returned to VSD, she just went straight to 6th floor and did the deed. It was the first suicide in 160-plus years at VSD.

R-

Few Tidbits from "I Remember..." by R. Aumon Bass

R. Aumon Bass, one of the most respected Deaf teacher by many others at VSD. Despite the fact that he was a teacher of the Deaf, the Board of Visitors named the girls' dormitory after him. Why not the high school building? Guess who ran the Board of Visitors back then? You got it right! It's hearies. So SYL to 'em!

However, R. Aumon Bass was educated at VSD and ended up staying at VSD to educate and work with Deaf students for more than 35 years. Not only that, he was actively collecting and preserving the history of Deaf Education in that state. He wrote two books. I'm going to select some interesting facts about my deaf school that R. Aumon Bass mentioned in his book, "I Remember..."

R. Aumon Bass lived to 101 years old, I believe. I'm not sure but I know he went over 100 years old. Here is what he wrote, the red comments are my own so you can follow what is going on:

"When I was a pupil at VSDB, an old soldier of the Civil War came directly to the chapel door and stood there and looked inside the chapel. I met there and offered him any help. He showed me where his bed was while he was in the hospital. His bed was near the stage on the east side of the chapel."

It is no secret that when the Civil War occured at New Market as the Northerners battled the Southerners, 30 miles south of New Market at VSDB's huge Main Hall and the Chapel was transformed into a hospital. There are stories that lots of dead bodies were thrown down the steep hill just few feet away from the current high school building.

"When I was in school, one of the boys and I found some human bones under the steep hill near Healy Hall."

R. Aumon Bass said it in a casual manner. To me, that is freaky.

"We had a good old former slave whom we called "Uncle Dennis" Shafer who worked and lived in VSDB most of his life up to his death in 1906. He saw the school under construction 1839 - 1845. He worked most of his time on the main hall. He was highly respected and loved by all at VSDB up to his death. I enjoyed talking with him."

"1839 - 1901, we had no nurse until 1901. The matron took charge of the infirmary. "Uncle Dennis" Shafer took charge of the children in the infirmary for the matron while he lived in the infirmary for many years. The whole school loved him up to his death in 1906."

I thought it was interesting that a former slave, black man was reveled by a white-dominated deaf school. At that time, no black student was *allowed* to enroll in VSDB. Yet, the school permitted a black man to take care of its white students. Plenty of contradictions, really. But again, that is so VSDB.

"We had only one Christmas holiday for many years from 1839 to a few years after I graduated -- 1908. The pupils were not allowed to go home from the opening of the school to closing (June)."

Can you imagine that? My Dad told me that we were lucky to go home "every weekend", he went home only twice or thrice per year in 1950s.

"1872, Paxton Pollard (deaf) was the first student from VSDB to be admitted in Gallaudet College."

"1907, Alvah Rasnick was the first student from VSDB who graduated from Gallaudet College."

Wow, it took 68 years for a student from VSD to graduate from Gallaudet College. Sigh.

"1958-1978, Mr. Joe R. Shinpaugh was appointed Superintendent of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, Staunton, Virginia. See the Virginia Guide, November 1958 - Page 1-2. Since Mr. Shinpaugh became Principal and Superintendent of the VSDB, he has turned out more graduates than all the superintendents of the past. He has also sent more students to Gallaudet College. More Virginia students have graduated from Gallaudet College. We, the students, the parents and the alumni take our hats off to Mr. Shinpaugh."

Many of you might say, "So what? Who cares about Mr. Shinpaugh?" His sign name is "S" on a person's heart. He is the child of deaf adults from ... Arkansas! Yes, his parents graduated from Arkansas School for the Deaf. Hold on this subject for a minute or two.

"1876, the aged mother of two of our pupils arrived at the school having walked, in two days, a distance of fifty miles for the purpose of visiting her children. After she had recovered from the fatigue of the journey, money was furnished for her to return to her home by rail."

Interesting, is it?

"Dr. John W. Michaels was one of our graduates, 1873. He taught at VSDB and at Arkansas School for the Deaf. He was a teacher, principal, author and minister. He married Miss Mary Agnew Scott with me in 1912."

Again, Arkansas. As you can see ... even today, Arkansas and Virginia still shared these bonds for more than 100 years. Drake, Shinpaugh, Frick, Copeland, Michaels and now with me, Chlms, RozRana, Fears, Silas ...

So you can see why I hang out with Arkansas friends at the Gallaudet Barfeteria -- I never planned it ... apparently, someone intends me to be stucked with these Arkansasites.

R-

Wanna Be Branded?

I watched the local news last night where they interviewed a girl who was hospitalized after falling off her skateboard in East Village near my workplace.

She showed her back, which the doctors at the hospital applied the ice on her back for several hours and warned her that it is going to be permanent. What happened is that she fell on the manhole and apparently, the manhole was very hot and it branded the whole thing on her back. ConEd is "investigating" the incident. Yes, I saw the "ConEd" on her back.

Only in New York, my dear children, only in New York.

R-

Where Are You, Patti?

I miss Patti Raswant. Can anyone else help me out by locating her and get her in touch with me?!

Plus, I added a new link to my cousins' blogs. Welcome, Mary and Sandy. My god, you guys are blogmaniacs!

R-

Few Things To Be Amused

How do you guys like my newest look with haloscan box?

Happy Birthday, Merritt!

I'm completely JEALOUS of Eric and Delanne's newest home. These views of Mount Olympic is simply overwhelming! It will be absolutely great to wake up and breastfeed and watch these mountains, all in your home!

Benis is now 21. Happy Birthday, Benis! I'm tickled pink that Benis drank his first Alcoholic beverage -- Cape Cod -- I know y'all groaned at this. For people who do not know why, Cape Cod is my favorite drink.

I'm disappointed that Hurricane Charley did not come to Manhattan. It wimped out like many hurricanes when it comes to New York. They probably sensed that we'd have wild parties if it comes to Manhattan!!

Reading Amy's reminiscing moments about her Hurricane Frederic -- it reminded me of mine.

My favorite hurricane is Gloria. It was a massive, huge storm that skimmed North Carolina and Norfolk-Virginia Beach area before skipping back to the open sea. My parents' house lived about 60 miles outside of Norfolk, my brother and I pulled the recliners from the living room to the front porch as we enjoyed watching the trees doing these wild dances. Man, it was CHAMP -- when the thunders boomed, we looked at each other and say "OOOOOO", then when the lightning flashed, we giggled like little girls in a church who noticed an old man's pants with an open zipper. When Mom arrived home, she went berserk that we hauled the recliners in the front porch -- she thundered worse than Hurricane Gloria, "What if these fucking Gloria decided to blow this fucking porch apart and you in it?!" Suffice to say, I was more afraid of Mom than Gloria.

My 2nd favorite is the Ghost of Daniel -- this happened right after Hurricane Daniel hits the land and when the eye died out, it becomes a ghost but it still provided heavy rains, tornadoes and all that shit. It flooded the cul-de-sac at my home -- I was excited and saw the neighbors' kids running and swimming. I ran out to join them. My brother, Gary followed me along as there were winds, lightning, thunders and heavy rains happening all around us. Mom was horrified and tried to pry us out of the "pool". We refused -- but when she shot a line, "Fine! If you get one of these 400 different diseases, don't make me take you to the hospital!" Gary and I looked at each other and ran back inside. Ahh, well.

Hurricanes are fun. Enjoy it while you can. Sometimes it kills, destroys but it is always entertaining to weather through one. Ask Berna and Rico, we weathered a tropical storm while we were at a waterpark. Only less than 15 people were at the park -- we swam all day long. That was Tropical Storm David, I believe.

Amy and Jeff, do you remember introducing me to the boat landing at 2nd floor of MSSD Parking Lot? Did you know that they replaced that cushion?

Do you remember the drive we rode with Monigan and French girl to the Lincoln Monument. Then we tried to stop that French Girl who fell into the Potomac River? These memories still lives within me. I laughed so hard that I bawled myself out.

R-

My Weekend

To my fellow Blogmaniacs, I apologize for not entertaining you with the latest additions. That will not happen again unless I am on a vacation. *smirk*

What did I do over the weekend? I had a nice time, really. Honest! I'm serious! My weekend began with watching the Olympics, witnessed a pregnant woman beating up on her boyfriend and hanging out with Ty.

Yes, true biz about the pregnant woman beating up on her boyfriend in my apartment!! Some things are better left unsaid. *smirk*

I was watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics in Athens ... twice. During the evening and during the late night. Why? I missed some key points that I was told by some friends. Did you know that Iraqi's flag-bearer is the one who is the nation's best in ... shooting? BJ and Web looked at each other and laughed so hard. Of course, he is the best in that shit.

On Saturday night, I wanted to stay home. I really do. Like I mentioned before, I did not want to go out. I was not in mood to go out and deal with people. I like to be reclusive. But Perlis, Breen and Web insisted that I go. I caved in. So off to Barracuda where I met Ty and Bianca. Ty looked so good as ever. Ty brought his friends who performed in Big River to the bar and mingled with us all. I was the VEE-VEE the whole night long. I got a pissy hangover the next day. So I spent the day watching the US Olympics.

I saw the Hamms. Their facial expressions on their performances in gymnastics are SEXY!! Too bad I did not jerk off. I never wank off to the shows that has clothes on. It must be off. Sometimes, the guys with underwears can turn me on.

I watched the US Men's Basketball team with horror, I quickly paged Beth -- knowing that she did not give a shit about it -- that this is going to be horrifying game. You know, when I heard that Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson being selected to the team, I knew that they will not win the gold medal. Both players are into themselves. Why do you think Coach Larry Brown left Philadelphia for Detroit and subsequently won the NBA Title in Motor City?!

I personally saw Allen Iverson when he was a sophomore in high school. He played at Tabb High which defeated my hometown, Hopewell High, 74-68. In that game, Iverson had 44 points and Childress had 26. It was such a show. I knew that he'd end up in NBA eventually. But he does not qualify to be on the Olympics team. I expect us to lose to Puerto Rico by 5 or 10. But not fucking 19!! Of course, I'm pissed off about it.

I do not know if Terrence Parking, the Deaf swimmer from the Republic of South Africa, will get to play against Ian Thorpe (Thorpedo is sexy than Phelps!) and Michael Phelps. I wish Terrence gets a chance to shock them. That would rock! That would be the coolest thing that a deaf person kicks a guy of that magnitude.

You know, when I watched Michael Phelps being interviewed by NBC TV, the TV zoomed in on his face. It showed his teeth. It seems familiar. Then it hits me -- I said, "Oh, my god -- Boucher!!"

R-