NaperVic

When did birthday's start to suck? I don't know what year it was, maybe when I turned 30? Well, they definitely suck now at 40 . It didn't help when a good friend of mine said "Honey, I hate to tell you this but 40 was the worst. I went through a six month depression." Luckily he seemed to survive pretty well because he's 64 now. I figure I just have to make it through this year by doing my best to fight aging. I started by going on a 50 mile bike ride on the day after my birthday. I finally broke down and bought some cycle shoes and new pedals to snap them into (SPDI I think). I usually only ride about 16-20 miles, but with the new shoes, and my consistent attendance at Spin class, I figured I could push myself to do 50. Although my ass, palms, & calves hurt, I managed to complete the 50 miles in about 3 hours of riding time with 3 10 minute breaks. I rode from about 9:00am until 12:30 while it wasn't terrible hot, but I still managed a decent tan. I was pretty proud of myself for completing the ride and while I was still in the mood to fight aging, I ended up going to Spin class at the gym for another hour of cycling. That in hindsight was stupid (but who said I was being smart ). My calves were killing me throughout the class and I sweated up a storm from the first couple of minutes. 1 hour of spin class probably added up to about 16 miles of riding, so I ended up doing the equivalent of about 66 miles of riding that day. Oh about those cycle shoes. Scary little f*ckers they are. I managed not to fall the first 3 or 4 rides, but today I fell...twice. The first time, I was trying to turn off the path onto a sidewalk (I've done this dozens of times) and I used to use my left foot for balance. Well, I 'forgot' that my foot was locked into the pedal. By the time I realized it, I was already going down...instinctively, I put my left had out and managed to land on my left palm. Ouch. I got back on my bike and started riding home (about 1 block away). I decided to get my shoes out of the pedals ahead of time (to prepare), but it seems that while resting my left foot on the pedal, it snapped in again. So by the time I got to my garage and tried putting my left foot out, once again it was stuck and I panicked and fell on the same left palm. Double ouch. My left palm is all sore and starting to turn blue/purple. It's going to look a nasty color by tomorrow morning. Who knew cycling would be so hard on the palms. Anywho, despite my palm injury, my goal by the end of this season is to do 100 miles so that I could do one of those century rides (maybe next year). I'm sure I'll find other ways to fight the 40s . Take Care®, Vic P.S. - I ended up not buying a truck. I think the way gas prices are running, it would be silly to have a gas guzzler like that.

Scary! Well, not that you look scary, but you kinda look like my Ex . Same eyes, eyebrows, skin color, 2 o'clock shadow, nose, fingers... Cute!

Oh good luck with all that. I not sure how well I would do in an online course. I think I'd respond better to having a ruler wielding nun nearby ready to motivate me

Thanks everyone for the Birthday wishes! Now that I'm here, I can officially say that I hate the 40s I must now throw out the two A&F sleeveless shirts I have . Am I even allowed to wear cargo shorts? Ending? I'm hoping for 20 more chapters...released on a twice a week basis...with Ch 21 starting today Boo!!!!! Please ask your mother to smack the back of your head for sassing me. You can get anything you want from me Kevin No skittles? I hope my member name doesn't change to that

How tall are you Robbie? I feel fat at 160

does Joe have a Tat on his right bicep?

Do tell, what approach did you use? 'It's not you, it's me.' 'You're a great guy but,....'

Okay, so if he suggested the define our relationship discussion, then I think you should oblige him and be honest. You also agreed to have the discussion in a few weeks. If those few weeks have come and gone, it's time to pay the piper. You like being friends with him, but you're not interested in a dating relationship with him. Tell him that. You'll save yourselves future awkwardness. Take Care, Vic

Ahhhh, here's what I was thinking about. While this thread wasn't exclusively about breaking up, the subject was broached... This is the A Guide to Boyfriends thread that Ieshwar started a while back.

I swear we had a break up thread somewhere.... *runs to go search*

what's up with the fohawk Joey?

My ultimate fear is that I'm going to smell and won't even know it . I don't know if I'm stereotyping, but the people who tend to smell are usually older. They might be so used to their odor that they don't realize that they are reeking of B.O. It could be a matter of never getting into the habit of wearing AP/Deo or maybe it's that old school fear of the plague days that bathing spread the disease.

There were some interesting comments in the Scent topic which made me wonder about people's hygiene habits. Personally, I shower two to 3 times a day (once in the morning before work, once after my lunch hour workout, and then usually in the evening after biking/rollerblading or some other activity that has made me sweat. I also wear AP/Deo on a daily basis out of necessity (I'll stink if I don't). Ocassionally I'll use Cologne or body spray, but that's usually if I'm going 'out'

I remember reading this article titled The Science of Sex: Does the nose know? The article talks about how we like the smell of those we are genetically compatible with.

Alpha Male by David Buffet (listed on the Best of Nifty site) delves into this topic. I think in the outside world, people's 'real' smells are hidden by colognes & deodorants too much. The only place I really notice odors is in the gym. All the physical activity sweats the artificial stuff away and you get to smell people's real scents. It's not always a good thing because most people smell bad (to me at least). However like Menzo experienced, every once in a while someone's scent will blow me over with how attractive they smell. It's usually extremely subtle, but it is still overwhelming in it's own way. And there isn't always a correlation between physical attractiveness and scentual attractiveness. It's been my experience that Hairy folks tend to have more intense smells. Oh on a related topic. My ex and I have joint custody of our dog Mina, so we alternate her every 3-4 weeks. The last time I picked her up and we were hugging, I distinctly remember smelling her and thinking how good she smelled. I asked the ex if he gave her a bath recently and he said no. It was odd that I noticed her good/recognizable smell and didn't seem to smell her usual I run around in a field all day getting dirty smell. Odd.

Happy 29th Birthday Luc! Enjoy your last year of your 20s.

Happy 22nd Birthday Luigi!!!! Hope you have a great one!

hmmm, I can only think of a few right now... To Hoover - means to vacuum. I Tivo'ed the latest episode of Ugly Betty so we can watch it next week.

You just don't realize how much fashion sense you have. It's a gift really, you're a natural.

There's some truth to what you've both said. I think the difference is location. For bar/pick up joint places, James description is accurate. For non-pick up joints, my experience is similiar to what Kevin describes. The gay/lesbian network on the campus I work at is extremely diverse (age, size, dress, personality, etc) and is very strong. My closest gay friends are 20-25 years older than I and would probably we hanging out with my folks if they were straight . The two guys I hate the most are gay. I honestly don't know if I'd be able to resist steering into them while driving if I saw them on the side of the road.

I like that I'm in better shape and dress better than your average 39yo hetero guy I like that there's no pressure to have kids and that most of my income is spent on me ( ) and that it's not being sucked away feeding/housing/caring for offspring. When I was in a relationship, it was fun basically doubling your wardrobe because you got to share your same sex partner's clothing. These are just a few of my favourite things (about being gay). Take Care®, Vic

Happy 22nd Birthday Matt!!!! Hope you are doing well and that you have an awesome day!

Happy 18th Birthday Natertot! I suppose that now you're 18, I can't call you Natertot anymore . Hope you have a great birthday and congraduation! Take Care®, Vic

I voted no and I thought Kevin did a fabulous job articulating a lot of good points. I don't think that anyone should care so much about what some uninformed person who judges or conclude that all GLBT folks are as what they see at Pride parade. To be honest, if a Gay Pride parade accurately reflected the makeup of the GLBT community, the straights should be really scared because they'd see that we were as diverse (and plain) as they are. There'd be boring middle age guys wearing tan dockers and light blue polo shirts and pocket protectors. As a side, one thing that friends and I have noticed about Gay Pride parades in the big cities with large gay populations... They've become extremely corporate with lots of large companies trying to market to gays to get all that gay money. Some have even said they're getting down right boring :wacko: .

Happy Belated 45th Graeme Sounds like you had a good time. Here's to many more! Take Care, Vic