echeblog

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Cat Fiction

I was browsing through the new releases at the library and by chance I ran across something that seemed peculiar: Cat fiction. Ok, I know genre fiction can be pretty odd in and of itself, but I never imagined that there was such a beast as cat murder mysteries. What was even more disturbing was that I ended up seeing two or three more books right after I had noticed the first one... and that

Now let me say that I am a cat person -- I generally enjoy them (though that doesn't make me anti-dog) but I don't have 5 cats running around like some people I know and the whole LOLcats phenomenon nauseates me. Generally I figure that the people who spend their days looking at pictures of cats with lame captions simply have no prospects of ever having sex, so what else are they going to do, right?

Never had I imagined that one would think to combine murder-mystery fiction with cats. I just never knew the crazy cat demographic was that strong. I guess I simply underestimated this insane world of ours. If there's a market for cat fiction and clown porn, there's really a market for just about anything. I guess deep down, its a life affirming discovery because if people are willing to shell out some coin for stuff like that, somewhere there's got to be some major coin out there for me.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

February 2008 Podcast

Hey everybody! I decided to switch from the radio.blog format to a podcast and hopefully to increase the exposure, to boot. A note on the podcasts -- I've cut the bit rate for a couple of reasons, one to make the file sizes reasonable and keep bandwidth space to a minimum, second, I'd really like to encourage people to purchase tracks they like whenever possible. I'm providing links for tracks that can be purchased online, and I'll update them to include more as I get them. Enjoy!

February 2008 Podcast
(download here - mp3 format, 62kbps)
  1. Tidal Flow (Original Mix)- Third Member
  2. Aguablanca (Puestas Del Sol Club Mix) - Dan Rubell Presents Aguablanca
  3. Shine On Me (DJ Wady & Patrick M Bedroom Remix) - J.Lewis, Ferran, Tikaro feat. Clarence
  4. Stars (Tony Moran Peak Hour Mix) - Erika Jayne (available at iTunes)
  5. The Flame 2008 (Solar City 10th Anniversary Mix) - Erin Hamilton (available at Masterbeat.com)
  6. Your Love Is Lifting Me Higher (Arenna Mix) - Gioia Bruno
  7. Doo Doo Wop (Chuck Bleu's Dust Traxx Chicago Re-edit) - Paul Johnson
  8. It Doesn't Take Much (Solasso Mix) - Sarah Atereth (available at iTunes)
  9. Tiny Dancer (Camel Rider Extended Mix) - Marco Demark feat. Casey Barnes

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Hold Me, I'm Scared.


Its as if they're one person! Mommy, make it stop!

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Marc's Midweek Erik Rhodes Beef Haiku

Just a troubled beef?
Nay, one who is trying to
figure it all out.

(Things will get better, Erik!)

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Sunday, January 20, 2008

Update

A few days ago, I got a short email from Alex -- basically that I had been quiet and that he was just checking up on me to see if everything was ok. As I take a look back at my blog in recent weeks, I suppose one might ask a similar question. That is, while I love hot beeves and all, I had never really intended that it only be a forum for posting pictures of hot guys and haiku. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Several years ago, I went back to grad school because I wanted to take a different direction in my life. I wanted to be able to help people instead of making my living off the conflict that is the legal system and being miserable along the way.

When I finished my program, I came to a realization -- how can I help people change their lives for the better when I'm not really sure how to do it with my own? How do you teach what you don't know? The last few years have been a slow process of getting rid of the things that didn't work and searching for things that are a better fit.

And through it all, I've been waiting, waiting for that thing to come along that finally shifts things -- a new job I can really jump into and feel good about, someone special in my life, a big break somewhere else. On the rare occasion that those things seemed to come across my path, while they'd shimmer and glow, they'd always turn to dust before I was able to get my arms around them. Its painful enough to have happen once, it seems downright cruel when it happens over and over again. It takes its toll.

What's worse is that life seemed like it had been reduced to simply passing time -- waiting for something to happen... that and regretting the things that hadn't worked out. If you're waiting for something, that's probably the worst way to go about it -- resenting so many of the moments in my life because they're just reminders that I do not have what I want and may never get it. All the while life happens while I wait and stand on the sidelines. That pretty much sucks. Through it all, I've tried playing my part to change that, but so many times I'd just end up frustrated when it seemed like I wasn't getting anywhere. Kind of like a kid shouting to the Universe, "Are we there yet?" Yeah, sometimes I wanted to slap myself too.

So in the past few months I'd finally come to the decision to spend less time finding reasons to be dissatisfied and more time finding reasons to enjoy what's around me. I know its cliche and sounds Pollyanna but in practice its more difficult than it seems... its not enough to look around and say the words that I'm really happy. I've found that it requires me to be much more honest with myself and I'm realizing how often I was willing to tell myself that I felt fine when something was bothering me.

Part of the deal has been spending less time noticing things that would get me off-kilter, whether that's the news, politics, celebrities or the everyday bitchiness that still pops up. On top of it I've been making more of an effort to find the things in my life, past and present, that have gone right. Of course, the truth is that there's a shit load of them but I've spent so much time overlooking them.

On the blog front, that's meant that I've been purposely spending less time finding some of the things I used to share before and I'm left wondering what's left. On one level, my life isn't particularly newsworthy at the moment -- I've tried to disengage from much of the drama that was left and I've stepped back from trying to be witty or edgy. Like the world really needs another bitter queen, right? At the same time, I'm finding more of those moments of satisfaction that I had been missing before. Maybe its the equivalent of trying to master the nuances of vanilla ice cream but in the scheme of things, I guess its not a bad place to start. Oh and I still love beeves.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Marc's Midweek Pre-Gay Rodeo Beef Haiku


"He's hung like a horse,"
yeah, we've all heard that before.
Its time to prove it.

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Haitus

Relax, not blogging or beef haitus. One of the things I've tried to do in the past few years of my life has been to weed out the stuff that drives me crazy -- that's included a number of people, living situations, jobs, stuff like that. By and large, its been a good thing -- I don't miss the drama. Yesterday I took the next step and decided I would not read the news.

Imagine -- large, multinational organizations that scour the globe to find things in order to convince you that the world is a fucked up place. Do I really need to know that Britney was spotted in Mexico humping a chihuahua? Not at all. Do I really need to know the Grand Wizard of Transylvania declared jihad on people named Clyde? Absolutely not. Is it crucial for me to hear which jabs Hillary and Obama have launched at each other yesterday? Ehh, it might be amuzing, but crucial? Nope. By and large, these things have absolutely no impact on my life. Even most of the stuff that's happening in town, like the wild dingoes eating babies, just doesn't concern me. In fact, by and large, my life works pretty darn well.

So, after 24 hours or so, how is it going? Truth be told, its been a challenge -- I don't think I realized just how much time I spent on news related stuff -- not just the news but people's reactions to and opinions about the news... and people's opinions about people's opinions... etc. I still find myself habitually about to check in with the latest goings on and opinions and then I stop myself. But overall, its been a great experience -- many fewer voices shouting at me that life is somehow broken.

There's still a little part of me that whispers, "You need to be informed... its selfish to not know what's going on around you." Selfish? You're goddamn right.

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Friday, January 11, 2008

Friday BBB pt.5


(Thanks to The Daily Slab for this BBB!)

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Thursday, January 10, 2008

2008's First Election Scandal

Wow, it sure didn't take long to have our first Echeblog Election scandal! Our friends over at QueerClick (NSFW!) have uncovered some recent dirt on Gage. Our hunky yet supposedly straight heartthrob from Sean Cody (and now Randy Blue) is trying his hand at being a hoor, too! Apparently, some QueerClick readers have noticed a profile for Gage at one of the major escort sites. I wasn't able to find it, but if the screen shot is to be believed, the hooring has occurred recently.

So in the quest for my future husband, how would this impact your vote?



Update: Someone claiming to be Gage has posted on Queerclick stating that this escort profile is fake and that he does not escort. While I've known people who have done porn, stripped and who have escorted and I believe that people have a right to make a living however they choose, I have to admit that I'd prefer to believe my potential fantasy husbands are not escorting... that said, at the end of the day, work is work. On the unlikely chance that Gage ever reads this, you've got my respect and best wishes in whatever you choose to do (or not do).

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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Marc's Midweek 'Boy Next Door' Veal Haiku

He's the boy next door?
Sure not from my neighborhood.
Guess he's from WeHo.

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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Echeblog Election 2008

Its election time, as if you didn't already know that. As much as I'm hoping Obama will become this country's next President, there are more pressing issues at hand. Specifically -- who is in line to be my husband. And so, I'm presenting Echeblog Election 2008! You guys will get to pick who you think would be the best fantasy husband for me. So, I now present the candidates!

Brady Quinn
For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Brady (the one on the right) and I both attended the University of Notre Dame, though not at the same time. We're both Scorpios as well and that could either mean we're able to understand each other on a very deep level or it might be a recipe for disaster.

Michael Churchill
Ok, he's from New Jersey but he looks like he could have been one of the several hot Mormon kids I grew up with turned beef. The crystal blue eyes and blond fuzz stretched over the flawless chest pretty much embody every Junior High and High School fantasy I ever had. I don't know a damn thing about this guy, but with a face like that, does it really matter?

Gage Wilson
Ok, he's from Sean Cody and supposedly straight, but a) he's still having sex with guys and b) we're allowed to delete those
inconvenient details in an exercise like this.

Ben Browder
I didn't want you guys thinking that I was only going for the 20-something ones in this. Ah, Bens!

Jake Gyllenhaal
I love the beard, Jakey! I definitely think you traded up when you left Kirsten for Reese, but now its time to leave behind these foolish games and settle down with the right guy.

Let the campaigning begin!

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Sunday, January 06, 2008

Classic!

(Special thanks to The Slabber for this.)

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Thursday, January 03, 2008

Iowa Picks Obama


And now it begins. I'm surprised he won by the margin he did, though not surprised at the outcome. This is just the first step but hopefully he can keep his momentum going.

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Ascend


W00T! My first gig of 2008!

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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Why...

...do we have to wait until March to see this?

How will I go that long without seeing hunky Helo?

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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy New Year!

Hope you guys had a happy and safe New Years Eve. I know New Years brings a lot of talk about possibilities and resolutions and the like. Here we are again talking about hopes and dreams for things to come. Honestly, I feel like 2008 has so much potential, but I've said that the past couple of years. So what makes this year any different?

The past few years have been a challenge for me -- I've seen things seem to come together so many times only to fall apart over and over again. I've come to fell like a lot of that came down to a lack of clarity... for the most part, I had really wanted things to be settled, to have what other people have -- a stable job, a relationship, a place to DJ, stuff like that. While this doesn't seem out of line, at the core of me, I can't help but realize now that I want so much more than that. But what? Where exactly do I want to go? That's the question I've struggled with for the past few years.

While the past few years have been frustrating, I'm coming to understand that they've help me come to understand just what it is I want. For the first time, I can honestly tell myself exactly what I'd like to do with the next several years of my life and it has nothing to do with a guy or a place or trying to shoehorn myself into a particular job or role. Instead, I've had the chance to stop and say, "This is the direction I want to go, this is what I want to create." I don't know how I'm gonna get there or what the next step is, but at the moment, I feel like this is the most important thing I could have done.

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