"Going Rogue" - He is reading it so we don't have to

Sexy Sara's Memoir, "Going Rogue" hit bookshelves this week and it is the topic of many a conversation. Most people I know will probably not read this book because really, why would we want to delve into all that? But at the same time, there is much curiosity - very similar to slowing down as you drive by a crash sight. We just can't help ourselves when there is the possibility of some wreckage. For all of us who have no plans to ever read "Going Rogue" but can't get rid of that itching feeling of wanting to know how bad it really is, here is your solution. On the website "The Awl" - which I just discovered BTW and will probably go back to explore - author Rudolph Delson is spending the weekend (Saturday Nov. 21 and Sunday Nov. 22) reading Palin's book and blogging live about his thoughts and giving us snippets of the juiciest bits. It is delightful, charming, funny, and a Herculean task that I am so glad i don't have to go through. Check it all out here:

http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/reading-sarah-palin-live-with-rudolph-delson

Warning: This is probably only for those who voted for Obama! But you probably already knew that! :)

I Quit Cable

Swamp TV.
Originally uploaded by James Good

I know this tile may be shocking to some people. In fact the cable guy who disconnected us said, with a mixture of pity and shock, “ I don’t know what I would do without my cable”. I used to think that way too. What on earth would I do without my ever-present source of entertainment? Without my Food Network, my Bravo, or my HGTV (or as we liked to call it, H Gay TV.) Could I survive without my cable?

We made the choice to disconnect when my BF took an internship in Milwaukee. He was going to have to get a place up there while I stayed here in our place in Chicago, therefore requiring us to support two households on an income that previously only supported one. Some tough choices had to be made, and Cable did not make the cut.

It has been almost 2 months now since disconnection day and after the initial shock wore off, I was surprised to find that I could survive without cable! Not only can I live without it, but I really don’t miss it at all! It used to be that whenever I would have a free moment, I would plop down in front of the TV and just turn on whatever it was I could find. I would then be caught up in the boob tube’s evil glow and not move for several hours, therefore zapping any ounce of productivity I may have had. Hours, and sometimes days of my life would be spent this way. Now, however, since I don’t have the simplicity of just clicking to wherever the remote might take me, I have to actively think about how I want to fill my free time. Instead of the panic that I thought this would induce, I found myself being excited about the options opened up to me. I could read a book, or I could watch that movie I have been meaning to, or I start a blog!

Because I now have an active part in my entertainment, I find that I am enjoying myself a whole lot more. I am watching things that I actually want to watch instead of just whatever was on. I have an amazing relationship now with my local video store where, for much less than the price of cable, I am renting those movies that I have been meaning to see and discovering TV shows I never would have seen if I had not sought them out. I am reading books again, finishing projects that have been piling up and just all around more relaxed with my free time.

So to those people out there that must have your 250 channels of high def sports, or your 10 channels of HBO, and your DVR; take a look at what you are actually watching, and if you are actually enjoying it. Then think about what you could be doing instead. If you are bold, then take the leap. Disconnect, and not only save hundreds of dollars a month, but regain control of your entertainment. You might surprise yourself.

Zara on Michigan Avenue

il duomo di Zara
Originally uploaded by jefolo

Not only was this weekend filled with ghosts and ghouls and slutty nurses, but also, along Michigan Avenue, it was filled with people carrying dark blue bags with the word “Zara” on them. Yes, my friends, the European clothing store has arrived in the Windy City!

Yesterday, on a break, I took a little field trip to the new Mag. Mile store, and I was ecstatic at what I found. (I think I piddled my pants a little!) The new store in the heart of the sopping Mecca in Chicago, is everything I would expect to encounter on the continent, only now on my home turf!

I encountered Zara while living in Europe a few years back, and loved the clothes they carried. They were stylish and well made and fell into that category of “European” without carrying it so far as to make me look Italian. I was always sad that there was nothing like it in the states. Later, I heard from like-minded friends in NYC, that they eventually got a branch. The migration had begun, but I knew it would still be a while before the store was able to show its face in the Midwest. This past weekend, though, my wait was over. I will no longer to have to travel to Europe to buy my clothes.

I am a skinny guy who likes to wear clothing that actually fits me. (shock, I know!) American men have fallen into a sad trap of baggy, saggy, slouchy clothes all two sizes bigger than they need to be, and it seems that clothing manufacturers have taken to simply making the fit bigger to accommodate them. It is virtually impossible for me to find clothes that I don’t swim in. It seems that only gay men in the states pay attention to such things as inseams and something called “slim fit”. European men, straight as well as gay, have not only paid attention to style and fit in clothes, but they fully embrace it. And that is why they look so much better than their American counterparts.

Gradually, though, thanks in part to H&M, the European sense of style is catching on here in the states at an affordable price. Zara , now, takes it one step further. This company has clothes with clean lines and has a consideration to fit that is virtually impossible to find in an American clothing store. On top of this, Zara also has an attention to detail that takes their clothes from simply classic, to stylish without screaming “trend”. They also do not shy away from high inseams, high arm-holes, and shirts that follow the line of your body – all things that actually make a man look good in clothes! Note* pleated kakis NEVER make a man look good.

So there is no excuse now, well at least in the bigger metropolitan areas. Good style that you can afford is now as close as your major shopping area. If H&M was to “hip” for you, then Zara has just want you need. I see hope my friends! Hope that one day every American may will look as good as the gays!