Longklaw.com

I haven’t done a lot of traveling these past few of years, but I’m easing back into it this summer.

I’m going to Seattle for a Madonna concert next month and hoping I can snag tickets for PAX for Labor Day weekend when they go on sale in an hour.

In August I’m leaving the PNW for the first time since 2015 and leaving the country for the 1st time since 2013. I’m going to Toronto and swinging by Chicago on the way back.

I already have ideas for next year. I’m just trying to narrow down where.

Yes, I’m still tired. I just woke up from a nap. I’m starting to get back into my normal level of social activity after taking it easy for a little while.

I went to see Muse with Evanescence and Highly Suspect. One of the best concerts I’ve been to.

Yesterday, I went to see a drag show in Pioneer Square. I saw Modest Mouse perform there last summer I think. It was a celebration of drag and trans rights. Lots of great performances and speakers. We may not have any issues with legislation in Oregon right now, but who knows what could change. The event was hoping to raise $3000 for OutMemphis, but it raised over $7000.

We got went into full summer mode weather wise for a few days, but it cooled down tonight. Looking forward to actual summer.

Life is good.

So tired all the time. I will update more in the next month. Hopefully, I can get my sleep back on schedule.

FAN EXPO Portland was February 17-19. It was forming called Wizard World Comic Con, but they renamed it. The last con I went to before the pandemic was Wizard World Portland 2020, where I got to meet many Smallville cast members. I think this event was supposed to take place under its new name in 2022, but was canceled or delayed.

My attitude about cons has changed. I don’t have to go every day and I don’t have to remain at the con all day. This con I only attended the 1st 2 days. I did what I intended to do and left. I didn’t attempt to take many pics of cosplayers. I didn’t go to all the panels I considered. Most of this was because I was just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.

The con was fun overall. There were a lot of little things that I think could be improved. I noted them all in the survey they sent out after the event ended. One thing was scheduling a lot of the better guests (either for panels, photo ops, or autograph sessions) at the same time on Saturday. It made for some hard decisions. There was a lot of Star Trek representation, which I liked. William Shatner, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Anson Mount, and Ethan Peck. I saw them all except Shatner. Nothing against Shatner, but maybe I’ve had my fill of him for now. And he comes to Portland often.

On Friday the only thing I really did was get my picture taken with Ethan Peck and Anson Mount.

On Saturday I went to the TNG/Picard panel with Frakes, McFadden, and Spiner. Because of the weird location of the main stage, they entered through the audience. Frakes and McFadden walked right past me. I saw a panel with Katee Sackhoff, before getting my photo taken with Jonathan Frakes, seeing a Leah Thompson panel, and ending the day with a Strange New Worlds panel featuring Anson Mount and Ethan Peck.

Overall, a very chill but fun con experience. Looking forward to next year.

A couple of months ago or so I noticed that so many of the gays I follow on social media were talking about Yellowstone. I guess the new season was starting. I had heard of the show and knew there was a spinoff, but I didn’t really know anything about it. I decided I would give it a try. I AM HOOKED!

I started watching around Thanksgiving and got caught up on the first 4.5 seasons earlier this month. It’s almost unheard of for me to get through a show that quickly. Every day I wanted to know what happened next.

The characters and the story are great and you find yourself rooting for people who aren’t model citizens while they are doing questionable things. The scenery is beautiful. It’s set in Montana, but I think it’s filmed in Utah. Sometimes it’s a little cheesy and sappy, but that’s the kind of show this is. I’m guessing the gays gravitate toward the character of Beth. She’s a little over the top sometimes, maybe borderline unrealistic. But it’s okay.

The second half of season 5 starts this summer. I had decided to wait until after it was over to watch the spinoffs, but I don’t know if I’ll make it that long. It feels weird not having new episodes to watch. The drawback of getting caught up on a show.

This Christmas season was bittersweet. I couldn’t help but think that it’s the 1st Christmas without my boy Reese since 2007. Max is a great companion, however.

I had Thanksgiving dinner with Josh and Aaron again this year. We watched Disenchanted after we ate. We had ‘dim the lights’ at work the first part of that week (work from home, no meetings) and of I was off Thursday and Friday.

I was ready for Christmas this year. I listened to more Christmas music. I saw some holiday commercials on TV and at the movie theater that made me a little emotional.

We had a ‘dim the lights’ week at work the week between Christmas and my birthday. We had Christmas dinner at Josh and Aaron’s, but there was about 7 of us this time. We played video games and did our while elephant exchange. On Christmas Day we had Chinese Dinner and my friend Nir’s place. There were about 5 of us, 2 who I had never met before.

I started feeling a little sick late on Christmas day. I’ve been sick since. Covid tests have all been negative. When one things starts to feel better, something else starts to get worse. Overall, I’m better than I was at the beginning of the week. It sucks because this was my vacation week and I’ve spent it all isolated inside. I’m probably going to miss the NYE party I’m supposed to be going to tomorrow.

I didn’t get as much this year as normal. I still have 3 exchanges that were moved to January because of the hectic holiday season. What did I get?

• a rainbow-colored beanie
• several video games (purchased for myself)
• God is Disappointed in You by Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler
• Arboretum board game
• Finding Me by Viola Davis
• some soaps and creams
• Nike gift card

Update: 12/31/2022
I realized that I usually give end of year thoughts in the Christmas post and not in a separate post like I thought. At the past few years I’ve done it that way. So I’m updating this.

2022 has been challenging, most because of death. Reese passed away and exactly 1 month later one of my oldest friends died. My aunt passed away last month and last week we lost a cousin (I think he’s a cousin, but I’m not sure. I have a large extended family). Some people who I knew of in the local community passed and of course some celebrities I liked did to.

It wasn’t all bad. I got a new job, which is an FTE position like what I was hoping to find this last year. I’ve made some progress and adjustments healthwise and I still have a long way to go. I started playing guitar again. I incorporated PDX Gaymers as a nonprofit. I’ve met tons of cool people. And so much more.

I’m a little bummed out that I’m too sick to go out tonight, but the rest will be good for me. I know that likely nothing will be different tomorrow, but I am looking forward to seeing what 2023 holds for me.

Earlier in the month we lost my aunt Juanita, or Nita as everyone called her. I found out about it after leaving game night at CCs on a Wednesday night because her son (my cousin) posted about it on Facebook. It was a shock to me. My family tends to keep illnesses from me for some reason.

She was one of my favorite relatives. Very funny. Very caring. She loved her family. One memory that has stuck with me was at a family event when I was in grad school or maybe had just finished grad school. She said in front of the whole family that showed me I would have at least one person on my side when I came out, which I hadn’t at the time.

We had recently reconnected on Facebook. She liked and commented on all of my posts. Many times when she would see me out and about somewhere she would tell me to have fun. When she passed I realized it had been a few weeks since I had heard from her.

I wish I had gotten a chance to see her one last time.

As has become common, Halloween season was busy this year.

I didn’t do a PDX gamers party this year. I just wanted to enjoy myself and not have the responsibility of putting on a party. Also, the place where we’ve been doing our private events lately raised their prices a lot.

My friend Aaron had his annual Halloween party and Jeremiah had his as well. I didn’t really dress up because I’m so having trouble finding costumes in my size. I had a great time even though I felt weird not having costumes. I do wear a wario hat to Jer’s party but that was about it.

I’ll try to come back later and fix the typos and this and elaborate more. I just wanted to get some thoughts down while I was still thinking about them

A few weeks ago I attended Rose City Comic Con. It was September 9-11. This was year 10 of the con. I’ve been every year except 1, and I was in Hawaii that year. I’ve been meaning to write about it, but life is busy.

It was great to be back in con mode again. I’m in better physical shape than I was last year. When I first arrived I was proud because I was able to walk from one end of the convention center to the other. I was very much out of breath at the end, but at least I did it. Small victories.

Instead of spending pretty much all day at the con, I was only there for a maybe 5 hours tops each day. I got to do most of what I wanted to and even got to rest at times. I saw panels with Levar Burton, Billy Dee Williams, Buffy ladies (Charisma Carpenter, Julie Benz, and Amber Benson), Walking Dead stars (Ross Marquand and Khary Payton), Star Trek Discovery stars (Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz), Kel Mitchell, Sylvester McCoy, Hobbits (Elijah Wood and Sean Astin), voice actors from Dragonball Z, and Giancarlo Esposito. I got to have my photo taken with Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Rainn Wilson, Levar Burton, Sean Astin, and Elijah Wood. I also got autographs from Wesley Chu and John Scalzi.

My biggest complaint about the con was the food situation. On the first day the food places didn’t open until well after the con started. On the second day the lines were longer than I have even seen them. I waited an hour in line only to be told they were out of the one thing I wanted. And of course, the food is way overpriced.

Anyway, the con was great as always. Spending 3 days around my people was great. I saw more friends than usual and even arranged to meet up with one, which I don’t usually do because I kinda enjoy being alone at conventions and going at my own pace. I’m already looking forward the next con.

Summer is approaching it’s end. Part of me thinks it can’t come soon enough because of all the heat, but part of me isn’t ready for it to end.

We’ve had so many hot days this summer. We didn’t reach the records of last year, but I believe this year has been more consistently hot.

I’ve had a lot of fun this summer. It doesn’t seem like I’ve done as much as last year. I think last summer people were glad to finally be able to do things together again, so we made up for lost time. This year people have been taking it more easy, especially with covid variants and monkeypox going around.

Xander came to visit in early June and we spent a couple of days in Bend. It was my first time and we had a lot of fun!

A bunch of us went to Seattle in July for Alan and Austin’s belated bachelor party. So much fun!

Last weekend we had a corn themed party at Cory and Chris’s.

I’ve been doing tons on PDX Gaymer activities. A bit more than normal. We’ll slow down after this month I think! I also started putting together a board earlier in the year and started the process of becoming a nonprofit.

I made the decision not to go to PAX this year, which is where I would have been this weekend. I just wasn’t looking forward to it at all, especially after being in Seattle so recently. I know that I often dreading a trip and have tons of fun anyway, but I decided to save the money and spend it on a different trip.

Work is going well. I’m finally starting to see where I fit in on this new team.

I’m ready for football and rain.