July 2008 Archives

Interesting, I was on AOL.com earlier and they keep a "straw poll" on who people will vote for. Did you know that every single state was red (meaning Republican majority, blue is Democrats)?! OK, I admit that I go there every once in a while to check some of the stories they have there like pictures and stuff, but I should have known the people who use AOL are the people who look like this:

And unfortunately they exist in every state. So, what have we learned? If you don't go and vote Democratic, someone like these people will vote and they're going to vote Republican for one stupid reason or another. See, I do learn lessons from going to AOL. Important ones. Get yourselves ready to vote and remember there's no excuse to vote Republican if you were originally going to vote for Hillary.

You know, unless you want great-grandpa to be president and have possibly 8 more years of painful hell. That's when I will point, laugh and thank god I'm in Australia not having to deal with any more of the American people's foolishness. And if this happens, I will lose all faith I have left in the American people... and this is sad coming from a fellow American!)

And you know what's sad? I think we're in for four more years of pain no matter what. Why? Because the USA is a country that is resistive to change and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I mean, what other country has people who think that if you let two men or two women get married, then people marrying inanimate objects, relatives and/or animals are next.

Weeeeeee! Rant ovah. (And I took these pictures from all over the place, and so did other people apparently.)

Ah yes, a whole podcast about one of my favorite Australian foods, meat pies. OK, maybe not. I don't think I could do that to you. I do talk an awful lot about meat in general. It's one of those things I love to hate but like it anyway... sorta like booze. I eat it anyway. Because I know if I didn't, I'd probably die. So kudos to the vegetarians.

People who I have never heard from before sent me private messages asking when I would update so this is for you guys. I had not planned to update for a few weeks. Now, you're warned, you'll have to listen to this crap:

• Australian meat pies (which I was cooking at the time... so it's scattered around my podcast)
• Walking through the meat section at the grocery store and my feelings about that
• Special feelings towards foods shaped like animals
• US foods that I'm starving for like real Mexican food
• My feelings on Vegemite
• Bad US Dollar, BAD!
• Updates from the weblog who don't necessarily want to read it: Arguing, Visa problems, Extras 2 & 3, Going back to school, sharing my weblog with my partner, my bad-ass dog.

19:00 of meat-friendly, blood curdling excitement all packed into one podcast episode!

Listen to idioPod 33 here if you feel like it's too hard to subscribe and your brain can't handle figuring out what to do.

It makes me feel like a man when you Skype me...

Subscribe right here. Ready, set... COMMENT (that means go)!

One of the things I am into lately and I guess I have been is Regina Spektor. And I love this song and video:

Or go buy it from the iTunes Music Store like I'm very tempted to do.

That's all. I have a big scab on my face from the dog biting me. I want to peel it off so bad.

Alright, it's been a while and I thought I'd update this thing. I actually did, but then removed it after apparent jealousy reared its ugly head. So I removed it. A few of the pictures that I posted along with it still exist in the photos part of this weblog. You can take a look at them but I'm not going to go back over it.

I thought I needed to take a little bit of a break from my weblog and such because things have been a tad bit wonky for a while. And weekend after weekend, my plans are altered because of Melbourne's suck-ass and unpredictable weather patterns.

Also over the weekend, my dog decided to take my nursing license, offer letters for school and final grade report to the shredder except he got a little too excited and shredded them all over the living room floor and couch. I was extremely pissed but couldn't stay mad for long. My dog isn't the most well-behaved dog but one of the things that I need to give him credit for is that he cheered me up when I was spending a lot of my time alone. My partner told me that I had to get rid of them and I crawled into bed (depressed more than I ever was) and the dog slept next to me. I woke up and decided that I'm going to keep him around. Gilbert was pretty mad that he was tearing things up like that and I could understand. But in a way, I think it's my fault. If a dog is destructive, it means he's not getting enough exercise and/or attention. It's most likely exercise. The weather has been mostly wet, nasty and cold lately so taking him for a walk through the parks has been somewhat impossible.

(...and today the dog bit my nose and it was bleeding a lot.)

My start date for the new semester has also been moved to July 2009. I'm not sure what that means. I might use the opportunity to stay with family longer and to work as a home healthcare nurse in the USA. BUT I'm not sure. As always, no set in stone answer just yet.

That means I will need about A$11,500 as soon as possible (equivalent to about $11,000 US dollars). Wow, has the US dollar lost its value! Good news is that I can borrow money again from the US government. I think, at least.

That's the update I have for you for now. I don't plan on doing an idioPod episode tomorrow but you never know. Hope you guys in the US have an awesome weekend and hope you Australians had a good weekend!

ALSO, for the sake of saying it, I have some Dreamhost Invitations if anybody needs/wants them and will use them for good purposes instead of evil. I have 5 to give away. I'm not sure what exactly they do but I know they give you 4x the storage space (2 TB) and 4x the bandwidth (20 TB). (Keep in mind that right now I'm using over 0% of mine but less than 1% of my space and bandwidth). And I think if you sign up for 5 years you save $150 and for 10 years you save $200. But you'll have to let me know [by commenting/emailing] you want them... of course it also puts money in my pocket which if you read above, you'll see that I need it. :)

Freshness from my boca to your oídos. Done today to make up for the fact that Extras 2 and 3 will not be posted today and I have no idea when they will be. Technical difficulties, yeah.

As with 94.8% of my podcasts, I have no main motive for this episode. The title of it pretty much has only a tiny bit of meaning. With every subliminal message you hear, you'll also get these great hits (less shipping and handling):

• Extras 2 & 3 have been postponed due to HelloQuizzy's technical flaws.
• Incessant Bitching, complaining and flowcharts
• Weekend plans busted: damn rain
• Visa woes are getting to me (cost vs. sensibility)
• Being depressed since last podcast post (I'm OK when I'm full of Mexican food, restaurant talk)
• Body image problems = the reason why I don't go to bars/clubs, motivation & weight gain
• Ditching unneeded expenses (aka online subscriptions), rice queens and my preferences
• WoW, Stupidity (of course I said something stupid during that.)
• More [better] information on the Extras, subliminal messages?

22:39 of subliminal enjoyment right to your iPod or whatever you listen to this with!

Listen to idioPod 32 here if you are anti-subscriptions.

I totally love being Skyped in a dimly-lit alley...

Subscribe right here. Ready, set... COMMENT (that means go)!

The weekend is officially over for me so I thought I'd start posting weblogs again. I'm getting a bit bummed out lately; this cycle of depression is starting to kick in. It has kind of made me take a back seat for a lot of things. My friends have been wanting to do things with me for a long time and I've made up every single excuse not to do anything with them. Now, I'm paying for it because I can't find anyone to do anything with me. Or I guess the quality of friends I have in Melbourne sometimes isn't the best.

Over the weekend, I was supposed to go to Bunyip State Park. It rained all weekend but I still wanted to go. The problem is that I haven't been able to crawl out of bed before 11 am. So I don't think I left the house all weekend. Ended up arguing a bit with my partner which I am finding that I never win any argument anymore. Being in a position where I am not as productive as he wants me to be makes me the constant loser.

That is why I have developed his own personal flowchart for any conversation that we have:

This will definitely make our conversations better. At least that way I can follow along and see what is coming next.

What did happen over the weekend is that he asked to see my personal website and to read a little bit of the weblog. I said that it wouldn't interest him because he doesn't care what happens with me anyway. And he could see that it was a total Bitch-a-thon about him. So that ended really fast. There is nothing that pisses me off more than someone who pretends to be interested in things I have to say.

That led to Sunday when he was complaining that I was feeding my dog too much which he was completely irate about. He doesn't let him out, doesn't feed him, doesn't give him water, doesn't play with him, doesn't pay for anything for him. I'm pretty much on my own if it comes down to my dog. So he stormed out yesterday for like 8 hours without me to the casino where he lost a lot of money. He sent me like 3 sympathy text messages which I didn't reply to. I really, honestly wasn't that upset but there comes a time in every gay man's life...

So Gilbert and I had a chat yesterday and I said it's a shame that the dog and I have spent more quality time together than we have. And I said that I didn't care whether I go back home before the end of August or not. Because honestly, I am just a shell of who I used to be. I mean, reading back 5 years ago you can tell a huge difference (of course 5 years of weblog entries aren't here, but I have them here). A lot of times I say "You know, back 5 years ago when we used to do this or that."

At the same time, I know I say these things and I probably don't mean it. I sometimes ask myself why I am letting myself go through all this self-infliction of unnecessary pain. I mean, things aren't done-done yet. As much as I'd love to have some of my sanity back and dignity, I still stay in a relationship where I'm not totally happy. And I'll go on further to say that it's not always his fault. You're getting one side of the story here. I can make him look like the devil but I'm no angel either. I could handle things a lot better than I am, but I don't feel like I should be the only person working to make it work.

I summed it up nicely last night: "This isn't going to work unless one of us are listening and so far I haven't seen that happening from both sides."

Relationships take communication. Something that we both don't want to do, it seems. There is so much I conceal and hide in fear of being judged, belittled or upset. In a relationship, you shouldn't have to deal with that. He knows that I don't tell him anything anymore because of it. And that might be the reason I feel like I am a shell of who I used to be. I'm afraid to express my true emotions to... anybody!

So with all of this said, I wanted to mention that things aren't going smoothly with the next podcast extras. Getting HelloQuizzy to work is like doing brain surgery when you've got 5 five-year olds who have had waaaay too much sugar and only one small kitten. So to say, it's irritating. I haven't been able to put the finishing touches on my quiz there for the extras. My sister listened to it and said she couldn't listen to it because it's way too irritating. I seriously doubt anybody has the nerve to finish the whole thing... so maybe I should rework it into a shorter version?

OK that's it for now.

I made this at the last minute sometime this week. I forgot when, but yeah, it's fine. You'll get over it. I'm going to just copy and paste what I had on the feed itself:

I think this one can be best classified as a podcast with a vast amount of confusion. A lot of the things I say are just hypothetical and I tend to think a lot outside what I know is going to happen but hey, I said it in a microphone so let's share, shall we?

Oh and for those who don't know, MMF stands for "Male-Male-Female".

Oh, this is what I was talking about, hopefully in this order:

• Release dates are all screwed up [Click here for updates]
• Extras 2 & 3 moved to next week. [For these reasons]
• Going back to my high school years: MySpace
• Have kids + get married (to a woman) = Happy Life?
• Resurfacing bisexuality
• MMF threesomes are hot
• How to date women? I must have miss that in the Life manual.
• One of my favorite dating sites: OKCupid.com (and HelloQuizzy.com)
• Twitter updates: They are significant!
• More badmouthing my neighbors on the other side of my paperthin walls
• 30 seconds of iPod Touch frustrations (Poor Nick's weblog)
• Time is running out for me to stay in Australia, legally
• *E3: Animal Crossing on Wii? MySims on PC -> Mac? Please? Mortal Kombat, etc)
• Having a "Wii" isn't so bad (tee hee giggle giggle)

That's like 19 minutes (and 2 seconds) of face-slapping fun right there!

Listen to idioPod 31 here if you're too lazy to subscribe and want to screw up my stats. :)

I love it when you Skype me...

Subscribe right here. And leave me a comment or 8 or so.

Ah, a day without worrying about damned podcasts. The thought lately has been making me want to vomit. I actually don't feel very well right now. One of the pluses about working in the health field is that you never know what exactly you're bringing home. And that really sucks.

I am a bit down today for some reason. I haven't figured it out completely yet. I think a lot of it has to do with me being in the rut I am where no one wants to hire me because my work permission runs out in a few weeks and my visa is expiring on top of that. So I'm going to have to stick with agency work for a bit more. My goal has ultimately been accomplished but still feel like I'm not 100% done. I guess I'm about 50% done because I do have more studying to do.

So yeah, I'm a bit bummed out.

Soooo to make things better, I'm going to share with you one of my favorite paintings.

Yeah, if you've been reading since August 2006 you'll remember that my favorite Alice in Wonderland character is Duchess. The painting above was who she was modelled after, no question.

If you look at her, she sorta looks like she's trying too hard to be young or attractive. When I saw a low-resolution photo I was thinking, "Hey, she's got a pretty nice rack." But if you look closer, you'll see that her boobs are kinda stuffed in that corset thing. (That's what it's called, right?)

And another, then I'm off to bed.

Beautiful. Had I been born in the mid-1800s and painted, I would have made millions. No, really. I made something that nice before. It was sorta a side project in my art class in high school. I think I did it on a piece of small posterboard or something. My art teacher loved it and I am thinking I said, "Here, you can have it." It was hard to see it go. It was gorgeous. Then there's the pottery I made that my mom still has and I absolutely love it. It's dark green, dark blue and black. And absolutely gorgeous but probably not worth any money which I need now. :) Anyway, "The Starry Night" was painted by none other than Vincent van Gogh.

That's it.

I was doing this podcast and I was interrupted about 4 million times so there are a lot of audible cuts and splices scattered around. That's definitely not how I wanted to celebrate the number 30 milestone but I guess I should be happy because I never thought I'd make it to #30 anyway. 30 podcasts in 18 months, who would have thunk it? (Of course you have to throw in that time when I didn't make any which was from May 2007 until December 2007.)

Anyway, in this episode I pretty much talk about things that are going on in my life at the moment and how I need to clean up some aspects of it. But that's not all, if you listen now, you'll also get useless trivial things such as:

• Lack of timeliness
• Cleaning up my relationship with a "housecleaning" warning because of the dreaded "Do you still love me" question
• Another absence on top of the other ones that I've put up with this year
• Should be content with what I have / 3 things that I like about my partner - is it really that hard?
• Unhappy with Pizza Hut that night (this is where the title of the podcast is from)
• Planning for the next few months (and I drop the f-bomb a few times for fun)
• Finding things in my arm
• Bitching about Brandi and Skype
• There's a new car in our car space, but where are the keys?!
• Nursing course results
• Most likely more thrown in there since I sorta skimmed through this one.

This podcast is a little ancient since it was done a day or two after I created the videos for vidioPod 4 which means that this is from around the 7th or 8th. But as far as I know, everything still applies.

Listen to idioPod 30 here.

Have feedback? Leave that stuff here or Skype me:

Aaaah yes, this isn't mentioned in my podcast but I wanted to thank these people and podcasts for making #30 possible. I wouldn't have done it without your comments, suggestions, inspiration and your podcasts which I use as a learning tool without your knowledge:

• OnglinePodcast
• Nick Thomas Podcast
• Oh My Pod
• idiotbox radio
• and Richie who does the most awesome blogs (miss you!)

Don't you want me, baby? Don't you want me... oooooh? Don't you want to subscribe to my podcast feed?

NOTE: There were two very similar versions of this made. I am thinking this is the one I was supposed to post. (One had been edited quite a bit.)

It's going to be an early night to sleep tonight because for some reason, I'm really tired. Tonight I'm feeling kind of... just here. In a way I am feeling a bit down. I just want to sleep. My leg's killing me and I pretty much lied to everybody here about what I was doing today so I could have time to myself. I sort of needed it.

I guess I'll tell you why I keep postponing the "Extras". I think that needs to come out. I am really afraid I'm going to offend somebody and not in the "You're ugly" kind of way but in a more advanced kind of way. What I mean is that I am realizing that my Extras have the potential to cause some serious harm and I should rethink how I am going to handle it. You'd pretty much have to listen to it to understand where I'm coming from. My sister volunteered (OK, I sort of forced her) to listen to it to let me know whether it's offensive or not.

Why would I care if it was offensive? Because these aren't only reaching out to my regular podcast listeners. I have broken a bit of a boundary and will be listened to by more people for these two. That means that I'm more likely going to offend someone and because of the subject material, it can only get nastier. I'm going to listen to my sister's feedback and if it's too bad, then I will rethink and rebuild. The idea is awesome, don't get me wrong, but maybe I'm handling it the wrong way. It's like... housing. Let's say that I need a place to live, so I'm going to build it out of those logs you buy at the store to put in your fireplace. Yeah, it can be done but is it necessarily the best idea or the best way to build a house? No.

I am thinking that I'll just stick a "warning label" on the podcast itself because I will be invoking a lot of feelings... possibly. I just don't want to take that chance of someone doing something stupid because of me.

It's hard not to mention what I am doing but I will tell you this. It deals with people's mental state and health. It is a bit of a research project that I'll be doing which WILL be located in the "Projects" area of my website. I am still pretty excited but at the same time I'm worried.

I am not going to speak another word of this but at least you know how I feel. I don't want to be screwing with people's heads like I'm very well-known to do... unfortunately. I do know whatever happens, that won't be the only version. After I gather more feedback, I'll do it again and it won't be a train wreck.

So let's think of happy thoughts... O-K let me just show you a new picture or two that you haven't seen:

Not my best, but hey, we're together, right? That happens like twice a year!

And now a picture of a weenie dog that lives with me, Felix:

So anyway that is it for now. I said I'm going to sleep early tonight, damn it. I'm going to play Animal Crossing and hope by the time I wake up, there will be an announcement of Animal Crossing Wii. And if there is, idioPod 31 (coming Friday) will be out of date! ;) But you know what, that's just gonna have to work!

UPDATE: Still expect the stuff when I said to expect it... so next Tuesday, yeah? Nothing really has changed.

I sometimes leave people in the dark about what's happening so I'll do my best to keep you updated and informed about what's going on.

What happened is that I woke up too late today and didn't get #30 uploaded which will make it 1 day late. I can't avoid this because of that dreaded bandwidth limit. If I'm awake late tonight, I will upload it around 1-2 am which will make it 10-11 am on Tuesday in the USA (in Chicago, Houston, Dallas, etc.) Otherwise I'll do it early tomorrow morning (for me) which will make it available around 3-4 pm on Tuesday for the USA.

I have decided to go ahead and release idioPod Extra #2 and #3 on the same day because honestly, #3 is like a #2.5. It's a two part project. If you follow the directions I will give to you on that day, you will get both of them.

If I do not make an episode that week and upload it on the 25th, I will just start on the 29th. Regardless, number #32 or #33 will happen on the 29th and it will be a review of the responses I got from the Extras.

This shift in plans will also give me more time to work on the webpages/directions dedicated to the Extras.

Hopefully this will be the last update I have to do about them. :)

My new, revised planned release schedule is:

16 July: idioPod 30: Triple Dippers Triple Suck (1 day late)
18 July: idioPod 31: Mmmm... MMF (already done)
22 July: idioPod Extra #2 and idioPod Extra #3 idioPod 32: Subliminal
25 July: idioPod 32 33 (normal podcast... if it is done)
29 July: idioPod 32 or 33 (to review responses to Extras)

UPDATE (22 Jul 2008): Extra #2 and #3 have been cancelled for the time being. Anybody interested in them can contact me.

Somehow, I have done it again. I woke up around 8 am this morning because I forgot to set my alarm to wake up around 6:15. I woke up, stretched and BOOM! It happened again. My calf feels like it's been ripped apart. About 2 hours later, it's not better. It really hurts when I move it but I will "fix" it later... because I can. :)

I swear this happens like at least once a week! But today it's pretty painful. And it hasn't gone away.

I have been working on the website part of idioPod Extra 2 which I remain so excited about and I am hoping to have it completely done by Friday, when I'm supposed to post it. I can tell you, if I haven't already, that it's personal research. So it will be posted on my "projects" section of my website. The information I collect is all anonymous because I'm not really collecting data but it's more like a presentation. And I really think you will enjoy the concept thought it will be an excruciating task. Yeah... you've been warned but I hope that doesn't stop you from listening. Enough said!

I will be posting idioPod 30 tomorrow morning so I am going to listen to what I've done today and most likely edit it. #30 was supposed to be a milestone but it's quite boring in my opinion. I might redo it. That's because #29 was a disaster that I posted anyway though I was going to toss it into the rubbish bin.

I just checked and my nurses board registration still has not been processed. I'm mega screwed right now and I think I cover why I'm so screwed (in a bad way) in my next podcast.

I think I'm going to get up and try to hobble around a bit. I need to clean before Gilbert comes back home. So that's it for now.

I will admit that I almost forgot to post this like I promised but here you are. This is a small (in size and length) video of Gilbert (my partner) and I at the beach. I edited down about 10 minutes of video into something short so you won't get too bored and so my internet bill won't suffer. (Remember: In this country, the Internet still costs over $100 a month for a decent connection and still that's not enough.)

So bitching aside, I'd like to introduce you to one of the local beaches here. And I'll also introduce you to one of the stupidest things I've said on camera. (I really didn't know exactly where I was but I had a good idea where I was. Honestly!)

You'll see clear water, my partner, rocks, signs and bad spelling of some graffiti.

Anyway, enjoy this 2 minute 31 second video if possible but I'll let you know it's better than the other ones by a long shot.

Ah and oh yes, you can easily get these little videos and my semi-regularly updated podcast downloaded to your iTunes by clicking this right now.

Your result for The Attachment Style Test...

The Player

30% Anxiety Over Abandonment and 50% Avoidance Of Intimacy

You are most comfortable without close emotional relationships. It is very important to you to feel independent and self-sufficient, and you hate the idea of having to depend on others or having others depend on you. The very few times you have fallen in love, it was probably with someone unattainable and disinterested. You know how to have a good time with your friends, but when it comes time to bare your deeper feelings, you tend to laugh nervously and change the subject.

Fictional character with whom you might identify: Captain Jack Harkness (Doctor Who/Torchwood), Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany's)

Take The Attachment Style Test at HelloQuizzy

Hello ladies and gentlemen. What's up?

Yeah... yeah... uh huh... OK.

Well this isn't all about you, is it? No it's not!

I have some mildly amusing news you may or may not be interested in and what better way to relay it to you than put it in this fancy weblog, eh? This is actually a

Announcing "Gold Dust"

Over the next few months, I will be working on a video that I will be calling my "going away" or "coming home" gift to my friends, listeners and family and will be done by the time I leave, whenever that is. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

It will basically be video footage I've taken and collected over the past two years with no words spoken by me. The background music will be "Gold Dust" by Tori Amos from Scarlet's Walk.

I started on it a few weeks ago and it's looking pretty good. In fact, some parts of it are already so well-placed to the music that it makes me cry a little bit, seriously. But then again, that song does that to me.

When it's done, I'm sure you'll hear about it. I'm a bit concerned about releasing it as a podcast video so I might just make it available from my website or YouTube. We'll see, won't we?

Upcoming Podcasts and Videos

That's right, more podcasts and videos. I have completed idioPod 30, Extra #2 and Extra #3. I haven't even officially shown you vidioPod 4. What I can say is that they're all coming soon. The Extras will give me some time to myself but they're really, really interesting. I mean, REALLY. I've never seen someone do this and I'm not telling anybody what it is that I've done. Not yet anyway. If nothing I've said have made people talk, this definitely will.

My planned release schedule is:

13 July: vidioPod 4: A Random Day at the Beach (this one has been sitting on the server a few weeks)
15 July: idioPod 30 (which as far as I know is still untitled)
18 July: idioPod Extra #2
22 July: idioPod Extra #3 (a response to #2... putting myself in your shoes)
25 July: idioPod 31 (which I will use to review my responses on the Extras)

So basically I'm shooting for every Tuesday and Friday for a few weeks. That is in Australia, by the way so if you're in the USA you'll see them on Monday and Thursday evenings/nights and of course that's a day earlier than what's posted here.

UPDATE: The upcoming podcasts have been updated since this post. Click here for it.

I Would Love to Punch Every Apple Employee in the Mouth

You'd think a company like Apple would have their shit together and know how to deploy something that they've built up hype on for the last three months. First I'm pissed that I just got my iPod Touch like two months ago and have to pay $9.95 to upgrade it. I think that's absolutely retarded. Second, even if I'm willing to purchase the stupid upgrade, and they post the links in 90 different places, the iTMS says that the store is unavailable. So go figure... and like all Apple software, it has to be 1 bajillion MB though it only adds 2 new things.

Let's just say that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Happy Birthday

I have a few family birthdays coming up like my sister (who reads this occasionally) and my grandmother. So Happy Birthday to everybody! i have a lot of friends who have birthdays this month for some reason. My sister's birthday is actually today but yesterday in the USA. How's that?

I think we all have known that I've lived in New York City (Queens) but I'm going to be one of those people who say that it's an awesome place to visit but not live. When I was a bit younger, I took a few trips to NYC to see what it was all about, of course, with my partner. It was around December so it was quite icy and cold.

One of the things I like about NYC is that there is something to do, always. You can never run out of things to do or places to go. Every day is like an adventure in itself and having so many different food places around is awesome. Even the hot dogs are awesome. :) I miss NY a lot. I'm hoping I'll get to go back sometime soon.

One of the nicest things I have seen is Central Park. I find it absolutely amazing that there is this park in the middle of a busy city and it's a place where I can go and relax to chat about things. It gives me a chance to get away from it all and escape the realities of being in a busy city. Going there just once will show you exactly how I felt at the time.

Luckily, Trusted Tours & Attractions has a huge selection of things to do in New York City and that will keep you busy if you're going to head to the east coast of the USA. Or go anywhere else and use one of their online travel guides. Or maybe you're interested in Washington, DC sightseeing? Whatever your travel needs are, Trusted Tours has a solution for you.

Make your vacation even better by not getting lost. Sign up for their newsletter and have a chance to win a handheld GPS!

This is the episode that almost never was because, to me, it sucked so bad. All of them can't be winners, can they? On top of that, I kept using "last weekend" so I had to get it out sometime this week. I will go ahead and warn you that this is definitely not the best podcast I've ever done... probably one of the worst:

• My weekend (for some reason Sunday to Friday)
• A reflection on my last podcast, #28 (death penalty)
• I shopped at the expensive US Food store
• Saturday I went video crazy, vidioPod #4 will be the best I've done
• Friday, we signed the relationship register... we both had our doubts (we've gotten along since then though, miraculously)
• Podcast Improvement & general podcast stuff
• New idioPod MySpace is here.
• My dog really likes underwear.
• Bitching about my best friend Brandi :) (and that was a real burp that came out at a bad time)
• iPhone bitching: Not available with my cellphone carrier
• Visit the weblog, send me feedback, Skype me (idiologic) or something else

2 seconds short of 16 minutes of mind-numbing, tasteless fun.

Maybe if the feed is screwed up, you can listen here: idioPod 29: Improv Improvement

Subscribe or a really scary ghost will eat you while you're asleep: Subscribing is good for your soul

It feels like forever since I've done a "normal" post but I looked and it's been about two days. Wow, time sure does fly when you're having fun, right? Let me update you with a few technical things that have been going on lately.

idioPod 29 is done. VidioPod 4 is done. idioPod 30 is done. I am churning these things out like crazy lately. But I have noticed, thanks to Nick, that my RSS feed of my podcast has been doing bad things. I'd like to blame Feeder for that. It pretty much does whatever it wants to. I tell it to put the podcasts in one folder and it sorta just uploads it to where ever it wants to. Classy piece of software, eh? It's about to get fired because this has happened way too much lately. Sooo basically I just need to upload those things in the next two weeks and it'll be all good. They're not the most exciting episodes though. (And I did fix the idioPod feed... by hand.)

I have been looking around and it looks like I am the only gay guy doing a podcast in Melbourne. I had hopes of finding another one so I can possibly collaborate with them. So I guess I could just go off and say that I am the ONLY gay, personal podcast in Melbourne and while I'm at it, I can pull a FoF and say that I'm also #1. Then of course, that will give me a reason to beg for money, gifts and attention every 30 seconds.

But I guess the attention part won't be so bad. That's why I have created a dedicated MySpace page to idioPod. Hooray! I won't beg for money or gifts, don't worry. That's mostly because I don't deserve it. Or need it for that matter. I just so heart attention. I have to say that I've been getting lots of attention from Nick lately so thanks to him for being so attentive towards my needs. Maybe one day I'll bake you a cake or something!

Speaking of cakes and eating, I am never going to order pizza from Pizza Hut here again. Every time I eat it, later I am more or less on the toilet with the squirts. This is like the 3rd time but I guess my stomach is just sensitive. It doesn't really happen to other people.

So that is all that I'll say for now. I hope you've seen my videos. Number 4 will be much better. It actually has me giving you a tour of a beach that has clear water and jellyfish. Have a good week.

PS: I don't really hate FoF. I know they're like 14.5 times better than my podcasts. :)

Welcome to another video courtesy of my big weenie... dog. Yeah, got you excited there for a moment, didn't I? Well...

One of my dog's favorite toys is a pair of my underwear. It had some holes in it anyway. His other favorite toy is any sock. He just doesn't like to play with the toys that I bought for him or something. Dachshunds have a major thing for chewing on clothes. They love it.

This video was recorded using my external iSight and the lighting has to be absolutely perfect for it to make a decent video, so the quality isn't very good. But you can still he's a cute dog, right?

So yup, here's the video if you haven't already subscribed to my podcast, idioPod, which makes life so much easier, you know.

For this episode, I decided to sit down and answer some questions I received from various people (OK, 2) and I think it's a good way to get to know me. Some of the mega-fun, moral and ethical questions I answer are related to:

• Meth
• Abortion
• A woman president in the USA
• Death penalty
• Smoking weed
• Premarital sex
• God
• Same-sex marriage
• Marriage - do away with it?
• Mexicans
• Kids having kids
• Alcohol drinking age
• Iraq war
• Euthanasia/assisted suicide
• Spanking bad kids
• Freedom of Speech / Flag burning
• Temporary insanity?
• Mirrors
• Shots (2 kinds)
• Summer plans
• Fav. hangout
• Why people don't like me
• Friends: A group or two?
• Married in 10 years?
• Being drunk
• Spreading rumors
• Am I a good person?

Then some more scattered around:

• I have bloody boogers and a sore arm.
• Skype me (idiologic) or email me with more questions
• A Texas local phone number hidden in there
• The weblog

33 minutes of painful, morality-compromising fun.

You know you want to have a listen here: idioPod 28: Q's and A's

Subscribe or forever hold your peace: Do it here, man

I pretty much know that this won't be the "last" entry for today. In fact, I'm expecting two more sometime in the morning so I can get the new podcast episodes out there so they won't stagnate for too much longer. The weekend was alright. I didn't do much today except watch the complete 2nd season of Ugly Betty. I sorta threw the phone to the side and decided not to do much with it because it's been a source of my irritation lately. I could hear it beeping most of the day but I'm good at ignoring it.

The good news is that, sadly, it did let Gilbert and I spend some quality time with each other since we're both big fans. (I also love Grey's Anatomy but don't catch that so much anymore, oh, and Desperate Housewives.)

After it was all said and done, I realized that I have about 1.5 months of legal status left in this country. That's right now. That has to change very fast. With the paper we got done at Town Hall the other day, it's a closer step to filing for a new visa.

After spending the time with Gilbert today I walked into the kitchen where I just sorta walked into his arms and he held me for a while. It was probably the first time we have done something like that in a while. I forgot how good that felt because it wasn't happening very often or at all for that matter. I wonder sometimes how bad that I turn people away and it's sad. It's like I don't let any of the good feelings come in and shut it all out. It felt good to feel human again as far as feeling that little bit of love that I still have bundled up inside me.

So today was a bit relaxing for me though I'll be the first to admit that I had quite a bit on my mind. I really do and I think it's time to start doing some house cleaning. I'm not sure if everybody's going to like the outcomes, but I need to get my shit together. I really do.

I did post some new photos if you're interested like this picture I snapped in WoW:

Yeah, ouch. That's a sword handle she's sitting on. Wow, dwarves are talented sexually! So yes, there are about 6 new pictures posted in the gallery. Enjoy.

I am gonna head to bed now. Good night.

Ah it's Saturday morning and I realize that I forgot to upload the next podcast episode but I guess that can wait, really. It's actually one that I almost like. So the waiting game is almost done. Exciting.

So yeah, yesterday I did go to Town Hall and sign our paper to officially declare that we're a couple. My day kind of started with him running about 15-20 minutes late again which makes a big difference when you have to go to Melbourne city. Our appointment was at 2:00 pm and we were about 20 minutes late. But what made it more fun is by the time I got there I was in a horrible, horrible mood. About 5 minutes after we left around 1:15 until 5 minutes before we got there, we were "discussing" our relationship. It ended up with him telling me just how unproductive and lazy I am and how I need to "keep myself busy". Usually that means making some kind of cash flow. I snapped back a few times and said that it's okay and that I'll make sure to make lots of money to shut him up. He totally got upset that I didn't do much of anything over the course of a week - I mean, I did, honestly. But I also learned a few things like my registration stuff wasn't being SUBMITTED until late next week.

So, uh, yeah I was at Town Hall pretty pissed off at the world. The officer doing it was pretty darn nice but she could plainly see that I was about ready to punch a random old person in the face. So yeah, we signed the stuff and got a little certificate to show that we did it. After that we've been pretty much good. No arguments or anything. In fact, he took me out to eat at my favorite cheap Chinese restaurant. (I have been twice this week!) We were going to go shopping but the traffic, for some reason, was absolutely horrible. So we went back home where we did our thing. I played Metroid 3 and didn't end up either hitting the TV with the Wiimote from being pissed off or asking the dog why he let me die. So progress is being made there.

Around 8:15, we decided we were going out to eat again. I didn't realize it was so late. So, let me tell you a lesson I learned in life. Now, this is very important:

NEVER, EVER EAT AT A BUFFET RIGHT BEFORE IT CLOSES

Around that time, the people who work there get a tad bit retarded and the food is really bad. I did like the old fries with hot ketchup though. I ate a lot of that. And I ate a lot of this apple crumble stuff with ice cream. Ah, it was pretty good for everything else tasting like it was four years old. It was like $24.90/person (cheap buffets don't exist in this country) but I had a buy one get one free coupon so had I not had that, I would have complained to the management about everything sucking so bad.

As I left, I saw the Mexican part of the buffet and I was like SHIT! I didn't feel like sitting down again to eat tacos and nachos. So I left and said I would go back when the place isn't about to close.

I got back home, watched The Spiderwick Chronicles which felt like a blatant rip-off of Narnia. I liked the first Chronicles of Narnia better. But still I didn't yawn much and actually sat down and watched the whole thing.

After that I crawled into bed, called my grandparents and parents and went to sleep. That's my day in summary. No pictures. Sorry.

I would really, really hate to make three posts in one day, but sometimes I forget about holidays in the USA and since a lot of my friends/listeners are in the USA, I just wanted to say Happy Fourth of July to you. I'm hoping that you do something fun for me since I am not there and freezing my ass off.

And what post would be complete without a generic picture of fireworks? None, I tell you!

So there is your picture of fireworks. Some sort of thing with praying soldiers or something is just to um, cheesy for me. Maybe they should start taking pictures of what those guys are doing when they're not being all preachy and Jesus-y. Hmmm.

It IS awesome that you get a 3 day weekend though so enjoy that too! :) And I will be back one day this weekend hopefully with an update on things and with a new podcast. Have fun and stuff.

Oh and because I'm a nice guy and I'm a great teacher, you can go here to learn about this holiday in the USA.

Ah yes, sponsored weblog entries sucks but something has to pay the bills. :) At least I'm not making 3 or 4 posts a week, right? Yeah, that's right!

Some exciting news, first up. idioPod 28 and vidioPod 3 is done. Because I feel like I am releasing new podcast episodes too often lately, I am going to post #28 either Saturday or Sunday morning and then vidioPod 3 around Tuesday. I had the idea that I was going to start on #29 too today too. I think I am just proving to myself that I have too much free time.

Today (yesterday really) I was getting ready to get my outstanding course requirement finished with which was my clinical placement book turned in. I was walking out the door when I looked at my hand and there was blood all over it. I was like, oh shit, where did this come from. I looked at the dog, wiped off my lips, then wiped my nose. Yes, my nose was bleeding. That hasn't happened for a long, long time like since I was around 10 years old. I was reading up what it could be and the other thing I can think of is that it's way too dry. A lot drier than Texas ever was. I haven't been away from a humid environment for this long. So of course, I had to clean myself up, eat a little lunch then head off. I got a 2 hour late start today because of it. (Well, I did get out of bed at the time I had planned to leave.)

On top of this, my arm is hurting, you know, the one that I swung around and hit the wall on accident. Sadly, when I get hurt, people ask me if it was Gilbert who did it. And, no, it wasn't. I injure myself quite often especially when I can't see because I am wearing no contacts.

I also wanted to say that I have not been publishing some comments lately. You know who you are and you know I appreciate your feedback. I am very protective of your identity for obvious reasons but I do read them.

It's close to being that time that I need to go to sleep. I will let you guys catch up on your podcasts before I post new ones so give it a few days. I mean honestly, #28 is a Q&A session (Question and Answer) so it can wait for a while. It mostly deals with ethics and morals which I thought was interesting. I do admit a few things on it which will either make you hate me or love me. Who knows...

Anyway, I'm outta here. Goodnight.

This is a special call to all moms who want to work from home, raise your children and get some money from blogging! Did you know you can make a few dollars in your pocket to save for a vacation, buy some new toys for your kids or maybe spoil yourself with some new clothes? Signing up for SocialSpark can help you save for something special or just to make some extra cash to pay bills with because we all know how hard it is to be a stay at home mom when money's already super tight.

Also, you can network with other bloggers, get your weblog out there in the public and begin making some money with it. It's definitely a great way to generate traffic and maximize your weblog's exposure.

So yeah, what exactly is SocialSpark?

SocialSpark is basically a social marketing network that helps connect advertisers and bloggers through an online advertising marketspace. Advertisers can target blogs based on certain topcs and make cash sponsorship offers to the bloggers who publish them. Bloggers can then, in turn, place ads on their blog or by writing sponsored content. The amount of money earned is endless! Not only can you promote yourself, but you can make new friends, discover new exciting weblogs to read and interact with others in a variety of ways.

So if you've been looking for a way to make a little cash from home, SocialSpark is the way to go. I've been a member for a long time and have made quite a lot of cash from it. I thought I'd share my experiences with you to show you that it can be done and blogging can be very rewarding. (Especially when it comes to paying for online games such as World of Warcraft!)

It's not often that I admit when people are right but I think my friend here might be right. Gilbert just doesn't have enough time for me. They met and talked and I didn't even have to pry that out of him. So that pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Today, I woke up hours before my partner did and uploaded new podcasts. Then discovered that one of them was posted incorrectly. So I spent some time fixing that up. At the same time, I was just doing my own little thing and then around 10 he woke up and started complaining about everything. So before 11 rolled around, I was out of the house with what I most likely can consider my best friend here and headed to the city. I just didn't really want to stay at home where I would be nagged to death about how I shouldn't leave the water running for longer than 2 seconds and how I need to hurry up and find a job working at a hospital full time. I think a lot of what Gilbert does is not in the best interest of us as a couple, but himself. I've tried to stay positive about the whole thing, but I am growing tired of putting up with bullshit I shouldn't really be putting up with.

It's like... instead of a partner I have a new parent. You know, one of the parents who are too busy trying to figure out what the bottom line is and working themselves to the bone than to consider the damage they're doing to the people around them. It's like I have to say "Hey, you're here now. Where are the things you promised? Why aren't you paying attention to me?" Then if I even got a response it would be along the lines of "Work needs me. Where are the things YOU promised and why are you taking long showers? Why are you getting in the way of my career/happiness? Can't you see I'm busy and have no time for anything else?"

So I'm pushed to the side again like the reheated fried okra from KFC that no one wants to eat. (USA KFC, that is.)

I have that appointment with the relationship register on Friday but I am truthfully not very excited about it. People ask me and I say "Don't remind me." God, I love torturing myself, I guess.

I really wish I didn't have to bitch so much about this. But if I didn't, then I wonder who would listen.

To leave on a good note, my friend & I did go out to eat Mexican food. I drank a Dos Equis which made me pretty damned happy. (We also went to my favorite Chinese restaurant in the city too!) So the day wasn't all so bad really. I didn't bring my camera and wished I would. That's OK. I'm sure there will be more opportunities. Good night folks.

In a surprise move, I released a new podcast episode of little stories about my past so you guys and girls may get a better view of who I really am. I talk about so many things, but here are the main points:

• Finished my course, my grades... stuff all sprinkled around
• Stories:
  • The sex-starved jellyfish
  • My first "relationship" and the gain and loss of love
  • Need vs Want: A Self-Guide to Spending Money in 2 minutes
  • Relationships made for convenience and what I look for in friendships
  • Short reflection of my new year's resolutions for 2008
• Question: Would I date a drag queen?
• My Twitter thing is here: idiologic
• My Weblog is here: no, RIGHT here
• More, but I can't remember right now.

About 32 minutes long, one of my long ones.

Ruin your ears and listen here: idioPod 27: Stories of a Lifetime and attempt to enjoy some of these short stories.

Subscribe at this jolly, sugary place: Just do it here and do me hard and rough for good measure

ATTENTION: If you tried to download the podcast between 7:00 am and 8:00 am Melbourne time on Tuesday, you probably didn't get the whole thing. The file is about 17 MB, nothing less. Sorry if you downloaded it between those times. (That's about 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm US Central Time on Monday.)

A short video part of my regular podcast about the park near where I live. Not very interesting, hell it's probably not even worth the video. It's sort of like an AOL product where they release products that should be tested and developed for 2 years more than the 2 minutes they spent. I just had to get one out. It's been a loooooong time. I'll make a new video on Friday when we go do our relationship register thing.

So here's the video: