Gina Bruce

What a motherfucking year it's been

2008-10-29T13:32:00.002-05:00

I seriously doubt anyone even reads this thing anymore. I am so ashamed that it's been so long since my last post. Closing in on 10 months.

Chalk it up to losing my identity in a relationship that wound up teaching me a lot but ultimately breaking my heart twice. I am trying really hard now to mend the wounds and find it in my heart to not be angry and bitter. But it's hard. I'll get there, but.... it's hard.

I hope if any of the old skool peeps are still checking here for updates that everyone is great. I will try to reach out to you - and I think I'm ready to start sharing more of my world again. It's somewhat therapeutic for me.

Peace, love and hairgrease.
GBoogie

New Year - New Hopes

2007-12-27T18:29:00.000-05:00

I don't even know how many people even read this thing anymore. I've been so bad about updating, I'd imagine not very many. But at any rate, I figured while I had a spare 30 minutes at work (which is highly atypical), I'd post a little update.

Work is quiet for once, which is nice and I've actually been off quite a bit over the holidays. My family was all in town for a visit which was quite nice. We got to just hang out a lot. Drank a bit, ate a lot. It was nice. I even got to spend some very good 1:1 time with my older brother and I was touched by the deeper connection we shared this visit. We have always gotten along, but as we get older, our relationship continues to deepen which is very nice. My mom was a little more relaxed than her visit last year, she had shed a few pounds, looked great, was in good spirits and seemed to just really enjoy herself moreso which was a joy to see as well.

My bro and sis-in-law bagged 12/20, my mom 12/23 and my bro and his partner 12/24, leaving me all alone to tend to my pup and their two as well. Their successful co-mingling is recent and makes it possible for us to watch the dogs for each other and also if I'm going to just hang out a bit at theirs, then I can bring Chucklet along and she gets to see some peeps and pups too. It's a win-win as far as I'm concerned.

As you might well imagine, it was a bike-y christmas for me - I got some really cool stuff all the way around, from butt butter, to really cool safety lights (Frogs), a Camelbak (<-- link), sport/cycling sunglasses (with interchangeable lenses!!), a new jersey, rad socks, etc. And I got some cabbage too, which for me is never a wrong answer.

Things with the guy are still really great as well. He's been off work this whole week and we turned a Monday cook-dinner-and-spend-the-night date into a sort of 2-day mini no-travel escape. We hung out at my brother/his partner's beautiful home, cooked, watched movies, had Christmas morning breakfast treats at my sis-in-laws' house, shopped sales a little bit and just shared the largest amount of time together continuously that we ever have to date. He brought me gifts (not necessary but so generous!!) that were sweet and thoughtful. It really felt like we were on a mini vacay together - a bit like paradise only without the beaches and sunsets. :) I enjoy him and our time together SOOOO much. And for once in my life, I'm taking it at the right speed. It still feels weird to be going "slowly" and I sometimes get squirrely about it, but I know it's right for right now. And he feels the same.

I am going down to SoCal for NYE to see my buddies Philip and Craig. That should be fun. We will chill out and also go to a party on 12/31 that a friend of theirs is having in Beaumont, CA. It'll be nice to get away just for a few days!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza or whatever you celebrate. And I wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

Loving you bitches,
XOXOXO
G Boogie

that goddamned diamond commercial

2007-12-15T01:29:00.001-05:00

The whole town is talking about it. Well, I'm talking about it and the whole town's listening!

But seriously - I'm a sucker for marketing and I am in love with this song. It's so sweet and his voice is great. Check it out - newly available as a single on iTunes or check out his page in music on myspace. (<-- link)

Artist : Landon Pigg
Title : Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop
-----------------
I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you
Yes there's a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you.
I've seen the paths that your eyes wander down
I want to come too

I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you

No one understands me quite like you do
Through all of the shadowy corners of me

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much
All of the while I never knew

I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for you
Yes theres a chance that I've fallen quite hard over you.
I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine
Now I'm shining too

Because oh because
I've fallen quite hard over over you

If I didn't know you, I'd rather not know
If I couldn't have you, I'd rather be alone

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much
All of the while I never knew
I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop
I love so much
All of the while, I never knew

All of the while , all of the while
It was you

I'm fully mad...

2007-12-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

at half and half. Yes, the milk product. I'm over it and its big bag of bullshit.

Let's look at a timeline, shall we?

Sat, 12/8 - purchase a pint of half and half (Lucerne brand for those of you in the know) at the SafeGay, around 2pm PST. The sell-by date is 12/20/07 (NEXT Thursday).
Fri, 12/14 - open said pint to cream up my first morning cup of coffee. This is the initial opening/use.

I ask you, I say to you, "hey..." - should I be receiving tiny bits of curdled cream floating atop my coffee from an unopened, seemingly unexpired milk product? I don't think so... BUT I DID.

This happens routinely with half and half in my life. Why? I never did anything to the milk industry. I'm a faithful small-time consumer of things creamy and delicious. Why the curdling conspiracy.

I go for fat-free or low-fat food items when I can (and where there is no huge trade off on extra sugar to replace the missing fat). But half and half in my coffee is one place where I do not. Perhaps full-fat half and half just has a really poor shelf life and I need to accept that those dates are bunk on the carton. Can't be trusted. Because fat-free half and half seems to have a half-life akin to Uranium or something. That shit never seems to turn. But I look at regular and it chunks up before my eyes.

Or is there a dirty secret about Lucerne of which I am sadly unaware?

-Creamless in San Fran

Another generic, lame-assed post

2007-12-04T18:25:00.000-05:00

Ugh - I can barely find the time to update my training blog 3 times per week, get to work, have a social live and still sleep. But to be honest, besides my training (there's a whole blog about it) and the holidays and the guy (yes, I guess you could say we're dating, but definitely settling into a bit of a groove and still a ton of fun!), there's not time for much else.

My bro and sis-in-law are coming into the country for the holidays at the end of next week so that will be great to see them, along with my mom who will be here as well.

How are all of you - what is everyone doing for the holidays?

And for those of you who are Jewish - Happy Hanukkah (begins tonight at sundown...)

How, I ask, can you not love this?

2007-11-25T01:23:00.001-05:00

Gobble, Gobble

2007-11-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

Hey Party-Peoples -

I couldn't let the tryptophan-induced holiday (<-- link) go by without a quick hello. I'm up AWFULLY early as I'm going to bang out a easy little 21-miler this a.m. with my buddy JT. You can read all about it on my training blog LET'S RIDE, CLYDE (<-- link).

But I'm staying in town, hanging out with my extended family of homos... the brother, his partner, the partner's lezzy sis, her lezzy lover (who also happens to be the same JT mentioned above and my cycling buddy/guru/mentor of sorts), and my other newest cycle buddy, Jerry Seinfeld (sorry - inside joke).

The new job has calmed down a bit - thankfully. Of course, I don't know that it could have gotten much busier.... good grief.

Things with the guy continue to progress nicely. He's an awesome fella and we have amazing chemistry. I'm having some primo moments with him and they feel right. Let's leave it at that.

Oh yeah - and if you come across the Packers @ Detroit on Thursday (on Fox, 11:30am Central), give a shout for Brett and the boys. :)

And just one more thing - I guarantee if you think about it - you are FAR more fortunate than most. I know I am. Sure, I could stand to lose 20 pounds. Sure, things might be a little more fun for me if my rent weren't so steep. Sure, a lot of little things have some wiggle room for improvement. But I have a beautiful family, world-class friends, a good job, a roof over my head, an awesome dog and cat to care for, my health, a promising new guy and hey - we've all got each other.

So how's a bout stopping a minute, and giving your sincere gratitude into the universe, or to God, or to whomever you want. But give it.

XOXO
GBoogie

hey now...

2007-11-07T00:20:00.000-05:00

So I've been a little quiet on this front. Truth be told, all things are really going well. But my new job, which I like quite a lot, just happens to be on a much higher pace. I did ALL of my posting before from my old job at the Big 4 accounting firm. Boy was life easy then!

At any rate, I thought I would check in and give an update.

I've been having some really good fortune lately. Or I guess if you look at it another way, I am coming into my own and am getting some of the good stuff I deserve. =)

Work is going well, my training for ALC7 is going well and I've met someone that I am getting to know a little better to see what potential lies ahead for us.

No worries, just not a lot of time to post and most of you who are my friends I manage to keep up with you day in and day out on IM.

I'll try to be better about posting - but be well!!

Dating Tips From Rho

2007-10-30T22:40:00.001-05:00

1. Be attractive.
2. Don't text.
3. Don't be unattractive.
4. Don't poop.

I don't even know....

2007-10-29T14:52:00.000-05:00

Let's Ride, Clyde, Part Deux

2007-10-29T08:56:00.000-05:00

So even though I barely find time to post to my original blog here, I've started a sister blog. Crazy, you say. We can't even depend upon you to post here - how can you keep up two?

Well - my companion blog is going to chronicle my training escapades in gearing up to ride in AIDS LifeCycle 7.

You can get there by going to www.letsrideclyde.blogspot.com (<-- link)

TO DONATE TO THIS WORTHY CAUSE - PLEASE VISIT MY FUNDRAISING HOMEPAGE

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

screw the italian, i'm going jewish...

2007-10-17T16:09:00.000-05:00

'sup, bitches?

2007-10-12T16:16:00.001-05:00

don't know if I'm back or not. Just sayin' hi.

Please Stand By

2007-09-16T17:16:00.000-05:00

BBCS Vol 2 / Epi 21

2007-09-12T14:52:00.000-05:00

VMA is NOT OK

2007-09-10T17:49:00.000-05:00

So last night before I watched another exciting epi of Big Brother 8, me and my brother watched tivo'd VMAs. I'm going to be real honest with you. There's no love lost on Britney for me, personally. I think she's pretty much a big idiot and have been saying ever since news broke that she was getting ready to pop out the 2nd half of irish twins (<-- link) that she won't really be making any sort of a real comeback. Not not soon. I mean, NOT EVER. Stick that bitch with a fork... she's done. But last night was such a delicious affirmation of that. Here's some pics from last night. I'm calling them pictures of "fat Britney".

Now granted, yeah - she looks a helluva lot better in that sparkly bra/panty set than I would. But, this is your comeback? Her number began with , "It's Britney, bitch!". It ended with a universal "Bitch, please!"

Now here are some photos of what IS hot...

Alicia Keys was HOT:

Rihanna was SUPER HOT:

Save the Umbrella, ella, ella, a, a, a... save the world:

And the closing number was smokey:

Even though there were some gems of hotness, this broadcast was largely still just a hot mess.

i can't take it...

2007-09-09T12:52:00.000-05:00

So C got home to Rome from Sardegna this weekend. And he sends me pictures. It hadn't dawned on me until I opened this picture that I'd never seen him clean-shaven. YIPES. He literally takes my breath away. =)

But then he is also ravishing with a beard and being silly on the beach

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

Lollipops

2007-09-02T20:28:00.000-05:00

Ok - I couldn't stand it - so I went to Sports Basement today and spent another almost $500 on additional supplies, but got lots of goodies: padded bike shorts, two cycle jerseys, a bento box (for storage), chamois butter, a light for cycling at night, and these beauties:

They're my shoes, and then in the second picture the top piece is the actual pedal and the bottom piece is the cleat that is attached to my shoe and where I "clip in" to the pedal. I'm going to keep track of how many times I fall over trying but unsuccessfully clipping in and out. It's inevitable that it will happen. But they will increase my efficiency and speed... WOO HOO.

I'm definitely going for a ride tomorrow. The weather has been CRAZY fantastic this weekend.

UPDATE: So I didn't get out for a ride today, b/c today was all about organizing and cleaning my apartment. It was WAY overdue. But I did get the pedals put on my bike and got out in for about 30 mins in a parking lot near my house to practice clipping in and out of the cleats. I ate pavement twice. I can only imagine how ridiculous it must look to passers-by who don't know anything about cycling. About a month ago, I would have thought it funny. "look at that dumbass, he's just slowing falling over...!" Twice. That's not that bad. But I have lots more practice to go...

oh and another thing?

2007-09-01T18:05:00.000-05:00

Everyone has been telling me how long it was going to take to get my passport... I applied in person at the Rincon SF, CA post office on Thursday, 8/23 at 2pm PDT. I was advised since I paid for expediting that I would receive my passport on or around 9/22. I paid to expedite because without, turn around time is 10-12 weeks and that could possibly preclude me from being able to travel on Thanksgiving. You know, just in case I have an international destination for that week....I'm just taking precautions. ;) So suffice it to say that the arrival of this yesterday (yes, only 8 days after I applied, thank you very much): makes planning to go HERE: that much easier! But it also begins to make this seem like a bit of a need as well:

You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

Getting in gear.

2007-09-01T17:42:00.000-05:00

So today I got up on some of this:

I tooled downtown to the water and rode the Embarcadero out to the Aquatic Park next to Fort Mason, which for those of you who don't live here is just about two miles east from the GG bridge. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was an awesome ride, traffic wasn't too bad and my knees don't hurt (...so far...) I purposefully only rode as far as I thought I could go and get back comfortably and I also intentionally kept it flat. Today was about going a greater distance. Imagine my delight when I tracked/measured my route and saw that I had ridden 10 miles! To date my longest ride had only been 2 miles... so 10 is a great improvement given that I'm not supposed be hitting 10-15 miles per week over the span of 2-3 rides by mid-October. I'm STOKED!

And now I'm jonesing for these:

Well maybe not this specific type (there are many...who knew?) but I am definitely going shopping tomorrow for clipless pedals and shoes and cleats. WOO HOO!

But first I'm hitting the Labor Day weekend sale at Bloomies and then seeing the Nanny Diaries.

All of this brought to you by the much-welcomed final end to the softball season and a give-back of my weekends.

Peace out and Happy Labor Day, bitches.
LOVES IT.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

-------yawn!--------

2007-08-29T08:46:00.000-05:00

Maybe something is wrong with my "gay gene"... I've been a mild fan since her early days abut in the past few years have really tired of her. I even gave up tickets to see her most recent tour in NYC at MSG solely because she was turning off the a/c. Come on bitch... preserve your voice? What's to preserve as you don't really have one left and even when you did it wasn't that good!

So here's why I'm yawning - I ran across this over at Big Daddy (<-- link) He hits the nail on the head: she's a littel [er... alot?] late to this sylistic party. blech.

It's gonna be a bit...

2007-08-28T19:06:00.000-05:00

Hey bitches!! Just wanted to let you know that it may be a week or so before I post anything substantial (other than some fun humorous items). Having just started a new job and trying to manage three different time zones now across the world between my brother, my east coast peeps and the italian, life is pretty interesting.

Thank God softball has officially ended. It ended up being one of the highlights of my year but I am also quite glad to get my weekends "back".

But, before I sign off... I should tell you that at a softball tourney this weekend, I had my personal season highlight. In softball, the length of time a game is allowed to go is limited. If time is called but it is the top of a new inning, the inning must be completed so that both teams have the same number of opportunities for at-bats.

So picture this... time had been called in the top of an inning when we were playing defense. So we would get our final at-bat as a team in the bottom of that inning. When we went to bat, we were down 11-9. We scored 2 runs to tie at 11-11. When yours truly takes the batter's box, we already have two outs... and for the tourney, it was a 1-1 rule: every batter starts out with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike.

I took a ball.
I took a strike.

So now my count is 2-2, the score is tied and my team has two outs. FUCK!

The pitch comes and I knock the HELL outta that ball for a good solid line drive single. But that was all we needed - it was enough for my teammate Horacio who was on Third base to make it home... giving us the run we needed to WIN the damn game.

yeah.... I rule! ;0)

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

Mommy is FLYING... ALRIGHT!

2007-08-27T23:19:00.001-05:00

Yes, go ahead caller. I'm listening...

2007-08-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

So with this past weekend's events, I've been left a little shaken AND stirred in a lot of different ways. And all of them good. I truly believe any experience that causes you to think and learn is a good one. And I'm surely thinking and learning about myself the past few days, yessirreebob.

I had a friend (B) over last night. He and I had been dating for a couple of months but I recently decided we were better suited to be friends. He wanted to take me out to congratulate me on my new job but I had so many around-the-house chores to take care of that I asked if we could order in and catch up while I did laundry and putzed around. Being out of it last weekend, gone this coming one at a softball tournament and then starting the new job on Tuesday, life is piling up all around me... YIPES!

But, as usual, I digress...

So I told B about Carmelo and the whole weekend...in great detail as I have with a few of you (Bunky, Dminmem, BigSir, Stack, Rev. Brown, etc. Syn and Moby, I owe you a deep-dive (heh....that's funny) so you'll get yours in the end (I kill me!)). He was a bit taken aback and amazed but also a little jealous. And of course, he agreed like everyone has how fucking cute C is. Because he is. I mean, sure, I'm biased a teensy bit, but... whatever.

And we talked about the emotional pitfalls of a situation like this. And he made the same very valid points everyone makes. I get them. But me and a friend were talking yesterday and I repeated a question to him that I've posed to most of you about this and then he quite clearly made a wonderful point as to why that question carries validity.

The situation is that me and Carmelo live a GREAT distance apart. Very true. The odds of this "working out" (whether that means a torrid global love affair for a few months/visits or even something greater) are not stacked in our favor. BUT, the question is, "why not?" Just because he lives in Italy and I am in the US, "why can't it happen?" I'm not saying it will, but why do we have to accept that the current geographical circumstance will be the permanent one?

So then the point is made to me yesterday in a conversation with my friend Auntie P as to why this question becomes valid. I live in a major metropolitan city which is definitely skewed in my favor with the concentration of gay men who also live here. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a fag. Seriously. And here is where I may lose you based upon your philosophy of love and "the one". I am not entirely sure how I feel about "the one" concept. I think likely there are two, maybe three people in the world living at this time that are BEST suited to be my partner in life. I think what makes one of them become "the one" are things like chance, timing, location, attraction, etc. Factors... But given all that chance I do think the universe pushes us in directions, helps to guide us in the right direction. Sometimes it is quite subtle (or maybe we just aren't listening) and sometimes it is as subtle as a bull in a china shop. All this said, just because I'm in a large gay area, why does that mean that one of these two to three people is living here in San Francisco at this very moment and that I will meet him? Sure, the odds are better that I find someone to share my life with here as opposed if I were living back in Alabama. But do you take the bet just because the odds go from 1,000,000:1 to 500,000:1? True, your odds just doubled but, as my ex used to say, "the odds are good, but the goods are odd."

So who is to say that one of those few people doesn't right now live in Rome and at this very moment is not vacationing beach-side in the Milazzo area of Sicily, telling his sister all about me and our adventure thus far? Who's to say that the universe didn't push me into that random bar that I NEVER go in last Thursday? Who's to say it didn't also push him into that same bar (which is decidedly NOT a tourist attraction bar!) a mere few hours after he put foot on SF soil for the first time in his life so that we could meet? Who's to say I'm not listening?

All I can really say is that I for one am tired of asking "why". It's about time I start asking "why not?"

To those of you who have voiced some concern over my being careful with my emotions in this situation - I do appreciate it. But just know that although this all does sound very Nora Ephron-esque, I am listening VERY intently. This situation could be about me finding my life partner or it could be about mending and teaching my heart. But in the end, whether I take an Italian lover or I walk away having learned something about myself that I didn't know before...and I walk away with a heart more open and more capable of true love than it ever has been before, do I really lose?

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi

blindsided

2007-08-20T09:34:00.000-05:00

Life can be so interesting some times....

Meet Carmelo. 31, the face of an angel, a Fashion Designer, speaks fluent Italian, originally hails from Sicily.

Problem? So far the only one I can see is that he lives in ROME.

We are currently under negotiations to see if we can maybe meet in New York in the next 4-6 weeks and then go from there...