Travel for free

I came across this article that happens to be going right along with what is going on in my head right now. Food for thought.

http://http://thetravelersnotebook.com/how-to/how-to-travel-for-free/

How much education???

Something that has come up around me lately is the question of how much education is enough education? I know it seams like a no brainer, being that we will always be educated. Not a day goes by where we don 't learn something new and add it to our lives. Even if we are house bound and the only thing that we have to connect us to the outer world is our television, we still will learn something new.
The focus that I'm asking though is in formal education. The reason this is my topic on this beautiful Thursday morning is in response to an article I read in the NY Times today. It looks at continued education at the middle aged and elderly stand point. Is there room for it in our education system. Well of course it is. Not only does it generate income for the universities, but everyone of all ages want to feel that they are bettering themselves. This doesn't even begin to focus on the social aspect that a classroom setting gives to this group of individuals that would not normally be surrounded by other focused, inspired students. Here is the link to the article if you have any further interest in it.
http://http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/education/26HUMANITIES.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

A morning of whateva!!!

This morning I awoke to a feeling of whateva. What is this you ask? It is that feeling that your world could be falling apart, the house could be burning down, your spouse could be screaming at you and your response is, "whateva".

This is not a way that I normally feel. My psyche has usually already made me a list of things that have to get done before I even awake, and my anxiety has usually crept up on me with in moments of waking, but today was not that case.

I woke at 6:30am, and then went back to bed and slept for another hour. No damage was done, and nothing groundbreaking happened, I just slept. So, how do we hold onto the "Whateva" feeling. My conclusion is we don't. We appreciate that it has happen, invest a little time into seeing how we could have more of them, and move one. I'm already still a pretty relaxed person once I've been awake for a while. Its only the first hour really where I feel the anxiety but today, all I have to say is whateva!

Uncharacteristically Subliminal

Today as I was driving home, minding my own business, aligning my afternoon agenda in my head and I happened to notice a billboard a little differently than I had every other time I’ve seen it over the last three weeks. Today, as I looked up at this Levi Jeans ad on this billboard at the corner of La Brea and Beverly, I took note of what the fuzzy background was: a campfire. Then, as I looked closer, I realized that it was not a woman pushing a man but it was actually a man pushing a man. The slogan on the billboard reads “There is a lot of work to get done, and undone” What?

This is in Los Angeles, practically in West Hollywood, where it is culturally acceptable to throw images of gay men and women out there for the public to view. Why is this particular campaign so sneaky about it? It isn’t like a few years ago when Dolce n Gabbana had their spring underwear photographs that strategically placed all these half naked men in uncompromising positions. The D&G campaign could easily fool an unsuspecting metro-sexual male from some small city in the Midwest into making the mistake that the ad as truly just an underwear ad. He may think,” I need this underwear so I can be attractive like these men” as the bandwagon technique of advertising would want us to do.

The difference between these two ads is that any gay man would see the D&G ad and immediately notice the pile of naked men a mile high reminding them of last Saturday night. The Levi ad, not so much! The question I throw at the advertising firms of this new decade is, what would happen if there was a little more wit thrown into these ads such as the Levi billboard? I feel that it makes me, as a consumer, regarded as someone who has higher intelligence to figure this out, as well as the feeling that the advertisement is panhandling to a different class of consumers. Somewhat like a witty sophistication or better yet, a trickster hipster campaign. You fooled me, so maybe I will buy your product.

A little lift

Yesterday I awoke from a nap and felt like the entire world had been sitting on me while I slept. I was seriously numb. Today I woke up and was terribly ill. In the line of work that pays my bills right now, I have to wake up terribly early and can't always get out of my shift even though I really need to just take care of myself.

Taking care of myself is something I've never been very good at and I work at it constantly every day to try and make sure I am good before I move on to helping others because bottom line: We cannot help others if we're not good ourselves.

As always lately, I don't have a ton of time to give to my blog, but here are a couple things. First is the link to our latest show.

http://http//www.hottalkla.com/htla/media/dinaandgregg/playlist/Dina_n_Gregg-Show019_08-16-10.mp3

Next is another sample of "I Have Three Kinds of Hiccups" It hasn't been edited too much, but I wanted to appease to my friends, family and fans who have been wanting to read a little more. Thank you all for being so great!

It must have been how Dorothy first felt when she arrived. Strange people, singing, speaking their own language, doing odd little dances. This feeling of being completely lost wondering, “I don’t remember getting my passport stamped.” For Dorothy, this place was OZ. For me, this place was The Cheesecake Factory and instead of Munchkins, I had gay boys. I guess you could call them gaynchkins.
There I was minding my own business, writing out a re-fire ticket for a Chicken Madeira that my table was waiting on and all of a sudden from behind me, “S.O.S. Please someone help me.” Was Rihanna here, back in the server line with me? Nope, it was Pierre and his parade of gay. This was the norm at my new found place of employment and how was I to know that it would be an education as powerful as the one I received in Los Vegas.
In Los Vegas, I didn’t become adapt to having gay friends. I had gay friends, but not many. Until I got to L.A., I was still the gay boy submerged in with all of the heterosexuals, but now, that I was among only gay men, I had to get acclimated. This not only meant making friends with them, but making the attempt to not sleep with them or judge them right away so that they still want to be your friend after the initial meeting. I was a total lost soul. I know it seems like it should be simple, especially coming from me who is great with mostly everyone, but it was hard. Not in a good way.
I shut down completely at first. A blessing was Christina. She moved to L.A. with me and transferred into the same restaurant that I was working in. She was not shutting down at all because for her, nothing had changed. So, while I was quite learning a new job, she was meeting everyone and telling me about them when we would go out at night.

And Finally, here is a song for everyone to hit play, and get you moving into the rest of your day or night. It just has that feeling that makes me want to dance and smile. Life really is fantastic. Good night everyone!!!

Prop 8 and a new show

As many of you already know, gay men and women can begin to get married, again, on Monday.

So far, this is my favorite article. It's from the Huffington Post.

http://http//www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/12/proposition-8-stay-upheld_n_680441.html

And now, our new show....... I'll write a bit more later on a new thought I had. Its on the there being a fine line between something being challenging, and something being aggravating.

http://http://www.hottalkla.com/htla/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=61&Itemid=320

Another early night

It's about 8:30pm, and its about time I that I have to go to bed. I have early shifts this week that require me to get up at 3:00am. I did see a couple things today though that have some interest of mine that I thought I would share.

The first is a cartoon that I found in the New York Times after I started writing a new play. First, I'm going to just give you the beginning two paragraphs of my new play, and then I will attach the cartoon. It is so funny how they parallel.

Man
I think the biggest problem with the world today isn’t homelessness, it isn’t the deficit. Hell, it isn’t even the homosexuals….. What it is, is the fact that we, as humans, are getting further and further apart from each other mentally and emotionally, yet we are getting closer and closer together physically.
Now, I don’t mean physically as in bodies sweating naked in lust; I mean, we are actually getting so close to each other, that you can start driving in Pismo Beach California, and the only time you see just space between there and Tijuana is Camp Pendleton. That is so many people, so close to each other and all them have a cell phone, and a laptop, and are on email, facebook, IMing….
That is the problem, we have our little worlds out there in cyberspace, that we don’t have our physical worlds happening consciously. I was sitting in the bank yesterday and thought, as I was waiting to get my money from the attendant, “what would happen if the power went out? All these people in here would have no clue what to do” But really, everyone at the ATM would have to come inside, all the people who are avoiding others by being on their phone, tweeting, emailing, talking, would have to actually digest the people around them and maybe hold a conversation with these strangers. At the least they would have to say, “What do you think happened?”

Prop 8 has been one of the largest controversies here in California over the last year and the state will finally be making a decision on it tomorrow. Here is a youtube interview from towlroad.com that has some information and below it is the direct link to the article.

http://http//www.towleroad.com/2010/08/proposition-8-decision-coming-tomorrow.html

And last, there is a new Dina and Gregg Show....... Here it is everyone. Have a great night and look forward to our newest addition to hottalkla.com Dina and Gregg Off the Mic.

http://http//www.hottalkla.com/htla/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=61&Itemid=320

A new look

Sorry if I'm throwing everyone off with the look of tookpotter.com right now. I just am playing with some looks to see what the website may be turning into. Since it is still attached to my blog, it's a great chance to experiment.
So, I just want to throw a couple things at you on this Sunday night. It has been a great yet very active weekend and I am looking forward to True Blood in just a little bit. I will definitely take some time tomorrow to catch you up on the weekend, as well as I hope you're looking forward to some new samples of "I Have 3 Kinds of Hiccups" as well as a couple samples of new projects I have in the works. Not to mention, a new Dina and Gregg show, with a fantastic new contest as well as the all new "Off the Mic with Dina and Gregg" Its going to be an amazing week.
So, the first post I want on this Sunday evening is the latest Dina and Gregg video. It is a promotional video for Dina's Boobie Bank.... Here you go!

The next thing I saw today was this article in the Huffington Post. It originally was published on Thursday but had more influence today and was revised. It is a great example of how all of our culture is changing and being influenced. We have to be reminded that social change is happening all over the globe. We assume it is, but we have to be conscience to it. http://http//www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/31/catholic-patriarch-blasts_n_665720.html

The final topic that I am bringing up tonight is something I am so proud of. One of my closest friends from college, Holly Lynn, is a finalist with her fiance Allison for a wedding at http://http//freedom2wed.com/vote/. Voting begins today and goes through September 30th. I am asking all Dina and Gregg Show listeners to vote, as well as all of my tookpotter followers. The Dina and Gregg Show is holding a contest though and it is a scavenger hunt. Please make sure you know all of the rules before voting for Holly and Allison because part of the scavenger hunt deals with you voting for them. Regardless of it all though, these are two very special women in my life and being able to help them win this is a huge deal to me. I am making it as easy as possible for you to vote for them by giving you the website(above) and now showing you their video. I will leave you for the night, with the two of them talking about love. I'm warning you, it may choke you up a bit. Sweet dreams everyone!