Marat: hot or not?

Marat Safin is retiring this year from what I heard. I did not include him in my Tennis Hotlist cause I found some of his photos to be unappealing and sometimes he is really cute.

Here are examples of some blah photo of him.

Here on the otherhand are some yummy photos of him. Bonus Mikhail in one pic too!

The greedy pig

Some men have the tendency to be what I call a greedy pig. They want their cake and eat it too. I have two examples of these kind of men.

My friend had an ex Mike who is a perfect example. He has other faults but one that I will highlight here is his tendency to be a greedy pig. Mike like ethnic guys and he always surrounds himself with ethnic guys. He makes good money and he is generous to his ethnic "friends". That is probably how he maintains these so called "friends". When Mike met my friend he was chasing him. When they became an item, he gave my friend an ultimatum to move in with him or their relationship will fail. So my friend succumb to this and when Mike finally secured my friend, he was on to his next conquest. He can never be satisfied with one guy that he needs to be chasing after another one when he already has one living with him. From his dating history, he is always changing boyfriends like he changes clothes. He is a greedy pig. Always want something new.

I met a guy Paul online who is visiting from Toronto. He spent over a week in Chicago and has met other guys prior to meeting me. We met on his last full day in town and we agreed (3 days prior) to spend the afternoon with me and later that evening watch a concert at the Grant Park. After showing him Graceland Cemetery, gay Andersonville and the "gay" beach, we head back to my place to eat before heading to the concert. It was during our drive back to my place that he got this text from another guy he met online that he wanted to meet in person. Evidently this other guy was unable to prior commit a time to meet Paul that he only text Paul last minute when he found himself suddenly available. So Paul changed his mind about watching the concert with me and instead wanted to meet this other guy. I understand that I can't control who he meets while he is here but to break his word on agreeing to watch the concert with me just to meet a guy last minute showed me how greedy he is. He wanted to meet as many guys as he can while here and keeping his word meant nothing. Very uncool and very greedy.

A greedy pig will always be waiting for someone better to come along. He has no qualms leaving what he already have in pursuit of another. Just like a true greedy swine. While it is already heartily eating in one bowl and when it sees you pouring another food in another bowl, it will transfer to that new bowl in a heartbeat.

Biking, blogging and me

I try to bike to the gym as much as I can specially now that the weather is warm. And I always find peace just meandering through the tree lined streets of my neighborhood. I take the small local street rather than the big major street as much as I can. I am not about to tempt faith by being stupid. It is during those bike trips to and back from the gym that the wheels of my mind turns. I find a lot of blogging ideas from those bike rides. I would be forming sentences and paragraphs in my mind as I bike. And by the time I get home, I am on my computer typing away my thoughts.

Helpful home remedies?

My aunt emailed this to me and I thought it is rather interesting. Just wanted to share it with everybody. I wonder if it works.

> Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers?

> Did you know that Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?

> Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Altoids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.

> Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon of horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief for aching muscles.

> Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.

> Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly even though the product was never been advertised for this use.

> Honey remedy for skin blemishes ... Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.

> Listerine therapy for toenail fungus. Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.

> Easy eyeglass protection ... To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.

> Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer ... If menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.

> Smart splinter remover: just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue-All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.

> Hunt's tomato paste boil cure ... cover the boil with Hunt's tomato paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.

> Balm for broken blisters ... To disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine ... a powerful antiseptic.

> Vinegar to heal bruises ... Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.

> Kills fleas instantly... Dawn dish washing liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog's bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Goodbye fleas.

> Rainy day cure for dog odor ... Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.

> Eliminate ear mites ... All it takes is a few drops of Wesson corn oil in your cat's ear ... Massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat's skin, smothers the mites, and accelerates healing.

> Quaker Oats for fast pain relief ... It's not just for breakfast anymore! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

Serena got it all

My heart goes for Andy Roddick. He played excellent tennis today at the Wimbledon Gentlemen's finals but Roger Federer outplayed him by only two games. Both players had two sets each with the 5th set score at 16-14. I did not realized I wanted Andy so badly to win that watching the match was too much for me to bare. I was a nervous wreck that I have to turn off the TV and not rather know until it was over. Don't give up Andy. You are destined for another grand slam. I know it in my heart. Congratulations Roger for a record 15 grand slams title. You are the greatest male tennis player indeed. Perhaps retirement would be nice?

The Bryan brothers did not fair as well as I hoped it to be. They got beat by Nestor and Zimonjic in the Gentlemen's Doubles final. Look ahead Mike and Bob. There is the US Open for you guys.


And the clear winner for this year's Wimbledon would be Serena Williams. Not only did she outplay her sister Venus in the Ladies final, she also got the Ladies Doubles final title along with Venus. You go girl. You may be ranked number 2 but clearly we know who is the true number 1.

Wimbledon 2009 was good to the Americans. Not only did the Williams sisters sweep the titles in the Ladies side, the men were not too shabby either for being runner up. Too bad it was not an all american sweep. That would have been sweet for the 4th of July celebration.

online insecurities

We all have some form of insecurities or another. Nobody is that secure about himself. And I have noticed several ways guys manifest their insecurities online.

> That guy I mentioned in my earlier blog was so insecure about his hairy body that a mere inquiry about it triggered an angry defensive reaction. Obviously he is not happy about it.

> A chicken hawk guy who is insecure about getting older would often claim to be younger so he can still be desirable to the youngins that he so much covets. If he does not lie about it, he would conceal that information in his profile until being asked about.

> A short guy who is insecure about his height will lie about being taller in his profile than he really is. My 5'4" friend has a neighbor, who is no taller than herself, claims in his online profile to be 5'6". We totally busted his lie.

> A guy who is insecure about his ethnicity will often omit writing his race in his profile. And he would have of course a headless picture that would not reveal his true ethnic background. Of course that is very counter productive if the object of his affection has racial preference.

> On a similar token, a guy who is insecure about his face will only publish headless shirtless shots in his profile. It may work a bit if he has an awesome body. But in many instances of headless shirtless pics I have seen, the body is so unspectacular. Likewise, a guy who has body image issues will have all head shots or photos that conceal his body.

> A guy who is insecure about his job will often be as vague as possible when asked about it.

> A guy who is insecure about the size of his member will sometimes evolve to be total bottoms or total oral bottoms. That way the attention during sex is never diverted to their member. Sometimes, he develops a preference to a racial group that is not notorious to have big members (black men). That way when they are both naked, his small member will not appear to be that small. Size is after all relative.

I am not at all saying I have no insecurities but at least I don't make it so transparent. Some of us are not that stupid not to notice after all. And also as I mentioned, it is very counter productive to lie or conceal. The truth will always eventually come out and that is just stupid.

40th Gay Pride Parade Photos

I did not see the Parade in its entirety but I manage of take some pictures on the Hot, the Funny, and the Stolen.

blogging material from a chat

Most of my blog material comes from my life experience. And since I do spend enough time online chatting, my latest experience online gave me some blogging material.

Just this afternoon I was chatting with this guy. He was nice looking and flirty. Then we got to talk about the kind of guys we are physically attracted to. I told him my preference which included a smooth body more over a hairy body. He added that he is hairy and is disqualified. At this point, I was not writing him off so I asked about how hairy he is. Then the chat turned 180. He got unfriendly and even hostile. So I asked him what just happened. He went on indirectly insulting me about rejecting him for being hairy. To be honest, I was going to overlook the fact that he is so hairy if he has a great personality. But it was too late. He just revealed an unattractive side of his personality. Obviously he was rejected before for being hairy that my inquiry about it triggered that defensive side of him. He projected that anger and came to the conclusion that I was rejecting him. I am not going to lie that I am not attracted to a very hairy guy but it is not something that is a deal breaker. I have lately softened my opinion on it.

Several conclusion I came out of this. Well more like a reinforcement of what I deep down already knew. Online chat is so limited that face to face conversation can offer. There is the tone and body language which can say a lot about the situation or circumstances. Another thing is that initial reactions of a person from certain situation can reveal a deeper issue of that person. Like this guy in my online chat this afternoon. He just revealed to me that he is quick to anger and that is definitely a deal breaker for me. Another thing is that unless we decide to live as a hermit in a cave somewhere in the boonies, we should be prepared to encounter crazy or unreasonable people. So just live and learn from it. And lastly, in life we will encounter reaction from people that may seem unreasonable but if we think about it more, this reaction is just a product of his life experiences. And it gives me more reason for self study and analysis so that I may be able to react reasonably to others despite of my own life experiences.

Michael Jackson for me...

Almost every news on TV lately have a segment on the death of Michael Jackson. In as much that I recognized his talent and brilliance as an artist, I can't help but scoff at the freak show that he became in the last 2 decades of his life. I liked him up until "Thriller". Then the over the top freak show came. The plastic surgerieS, whitening of his skin, straightening of his hair, mask wearing, pet chimp, animals in his compound, amusement park in his compound, frolicking with Macaulay Culkin/Elizabeth Taylor, getting white children to father and child molestation charges are all like a car wreak. I can't help but look despite of being repulsed. Unfortunately that is what I remember of him every time I hear news of his death. Somebody wise reminded me once that I should not judge a person cause I have not lived his/her life to know fully the circumstances. Wisely said indeed but the truth is, we all judge others. I am just blogging about it instead of keeping it to myself.

Happy Gay Pride

This weekend is the gay pride weekend in many major cities including Chicago. The Chicago Pride Fest started yesterday and goes on till today. It is a 2 day street fair similar to Market Days but smaller. And officially the Pride Fest is a gay event while the Market Days is just very gay. The Pride fest street fair is along Halsted Street from Addison to Grace.

Tomorrow is the 40th Gay Pride parade for Chicago. The parade starts at noon and can go on for 4-5 hours. The parade starts at Belmont and Halsted heading north then loops south at Grace up to Diversey then it heads east to the park. For more information on the parade, click HERE.

For those of you who are out and proud, this is a celebration for being proud of who you are. For those of you who are still in the closet, I hope you would join your fellow gay brothers and sisters in solidarity to end discrimination and oppression from those who do not understand us.