There is one house chore I really hate to do, and that is ironing. I hate it, but I also hate wearing wrinkled clothes. I try to always take my shirts and pants out of the dryer as soon as they are done to prevent wrinkles but sometimes things happen that prevent that, or I forget.

I also prefer to mainly wear cotton and natural fibers (I’d wear linen more often but it wrinkles way too easily and must always be ironed). However, my preferred solution would be to have this guy come and iron all my clothes for me and to do my laundry as I watch. The more I think of it, I think the guy above is the best solution to my problem. Now where do I find him?

I’m going to be an uncle again today. Sometime this afternoon, I’m going to have a brand new nephew. My sister’s c-section is scheduled for today. My niece is six years old and the joy of my life, and I’m so excited for the new joy to arrive.

Why should I marry? Straight people marry to have children, but I already have children! My niece and soon-to-be nephew are my children. I love them dearly.

The picture above is L’enfant, better known as Man and Baby. It is a 1987 photographic poster depicting a shirtless male model (Adam Perry) holding a young baby. The image, photographed by Spencer Rowell, was published and distributed in the 1980s by British company Athena Posters. The image reportedly sold over 5 million copies, making it among the best-selling posters ever. The photograph was said to herald the “sensitive but sexy New Man” aesthetic.

If you have followed this blog long, you know that unless there are unforeseen circumstances, I post everyday. However, there are time when I have nothing to write about. On those days, I usually begin to write about not having anything to write about, and a post emerges. This is not one of those times. I have pondered what to write as much as I can and I’ve come up with nothing. Sorry about that, but as Scarlet O’Hara says in Gone with the Wind, “…Oh, I can’t think about this now! I’ll go crazy if I do! I’ll think about it tomorrow. But I must think about it. I must think about it….After all…tomorrow is another day!“

First let me say, this post is not a complaining post. Usually each summer I’m bored with very little to do. This summer has started out with a bang. I was away on the cruise for the first week. And then I have been meeting a number of guys. They seem to be lining up, though not as many as in the picture above. This week has been particularly wild, as on Monday, I went to hang out and see a movie with a new friend of mine. We had originally started out dating, but the romance just wasn’t there for me. Also, I guess maybe I’m a little greedy or I don’t know what I want, but I’m not through exploring my newfound boldness just yet. However, we have agreed to be friends and we plan on hanging out mathura day night as well.

In addition, yesterday, I was talking to about five different guys, which includes the for end above. One, I’m hoping to meet soon and he seems really nice. We’ve had some wonderful conversations. I’m not sure where it will lead. He seems a bit nervous and shy about me, though it don’t understand why. I certainly not anything to be nervous over. In fact, I’m the one who’s supposed to be the nervous jittery one.

Then I was chatting with the “guy next door,” the neighbor I grew up next to, who wants to hang out today. If our schedules actually coincide for once, this is my plan for today. Probably, we will begin a friendship that should have started many years ago. We’ve already become friends while texting each other, so it can only become more, I think.

Then there was some online flirting with a guy on Twitter. I know it won’t lead to anything, but it was nice to have a little naughty fun. The guy has an amazing ass, by the way. Just thought I throw that out there. I do love to flirt and it’s so much fun.

The fifth guy is one of my best friends. We talk daily,even though he lives in another state. We always have so much fun, and I’m so happy for him and his wonderful boyfriend. They both have found wonderful people.

When you count that last night, I went to a friends birthday party, and Friday night, I will have my niece, this week is a busy week. It’s not usual that I have something everyday of the week to do, and I love it. Even though I do long to be home during the day and read a good book and enjoy a little solitude every now and then.

So the summer has started out very busy for my social calendar, and it might not last. Who knows what the future holds, but we will see what the rest of this summer holds. I might have to cut down on my socializing because if it keeps up, my finances won’t be able to keep up. So, that is one thing that will slow down my summer, but I’m okay with that, I guess.

How are y’all’s summer going? Anything interesting or fun. I know a lot of you still work over the summer, we can’t all be teachers.

The pic really has nothing to do with this post, except that I’d love to be “distracted” by him. So on with what this post is about. Honestly, I was watching the Tony Awards last night and as a friend of mine said last night, “In a way I guess I like the Tonys because they are a little wild and fun not stuffy like the Oscars.” I think his statement very well summed up the Tonys. They were a nice little distraction for the night, and honestly, as I was watching them and chatting with my friend, I wasn’t really thinking about my post for today.

Then when the Tonys went off, I started on a little creative project that I will be sharing with you guys soon, I hope. But it was one of those things that was just fun to play around with (and you guys can get your minds out of the gutter, I wasn’t talking about that kind of playing around). Anyway, after about two hours, I realized just how late it really was, and I thought, I’ve got to write my post and schedule it before I go to sleep.

However, that’s when I checked my Twitter and got a little sidetracked by that, which led me to Tumblr, and now you can get your mind in the gutter because that led to the kind of playing around I wasn’t speak of before. But I digress.

I finally decided to type out my thoughts for my post and realized that it was just going to be a random post about distractions. I can easily be distracted at time, especially when I’ve had a headache for nearly three days and it’s finally gone, but only because I drank a cup of hot tea and the caffeine helped my headache. So now I’m all hyped up on caffeine and writing a completely rambling post that shows how distracted I can get when I just need to go to bed.

Hopefully, when this posts at 7am CST, I will be sound asleep finally and when I do wake up, I will be ready for a wonderful Monday. Summer Mondays are always wonderful because I don’t have to go to work.

If you are a longtime reader of this blog, then you know I post everyday, usually at 7 am CST. Sometimes, like yesterday, I come across an idea I just can’t leave alone, which my post last night about the song “Ode to Billie Joe” is one such instance. But as I was trying to figure out a post for today, I just couldn’t think very well. It’s because I have a terrible headache. Those who are longtime readers know that I suffer from frequent headaches. Some of my headaches are more severe than others. This is one of those cases when it is more severe. My mind just has a hard time concentrating when I have a headache like this. Hopefully, it will get better as the day progresses.

I don’t do these TMI posts from Sean at Just A Jeep Guy every week, but on occasion, I see a topic that I can’t resist. Since I’m looking so forward to this summer for so many reasons, this one was a no brainer. I had to answer the questions. I hope you enjoy my answers.

1. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance but it also signifies the “Official” start of summer. What are your plans this weekend?

Today is the last day of school. We finished our last exams yesterday, and today is just a teacher workday, so not so bad. No students unless they have to retake or make-up exams. Friday night will be a date night with the new man in my life, which will be loads of fun, even though we’ve decided that it’s best to slow things down a bit.

With school out, I will spend the weekend packing for my cruise. We leave on Monday (Memorial Day) and will return to port on Saturday May 31st. What a way to start the summer! I’m not for sure what I will be doing the rest of the summer, but when I get back from the cruise, I plan to continue exploring my new boldness (something I plan to do on the cruise as well).

2. What is your most and least favorite thing about summer?

My favorite thing about summer is…wait for it…NO STUDENTS. No real surprise there. I love teaching, but if the students need a break from school, teachers need more of a break from them.

Living in Alabama, my least favorite thing about summer is the heat and humidity. I hate that when you walk out the door, you break into a sweat. The only relief is the pool outside and the air conditioner inside.

3. What do you think of when I say “Bar-B-Que?”

When I think of Bar-B-Que, I think of the Fourth of July. Each summer when my granddaddy was alive, he barbecued pork ribs over a large pit of coals, mopping it with a blend of butter, salt, vinegar, and water. Inside my grandmama would be making the barbecue sauce. She and my mama disagreed on this, but since mama was grandmama’s daughter-in-law, she deferred to grandmama. Grandmama’s barbecue sauce was a mix if store bought barbecue sauce and ketchup. Mama made hers completely from scratch: ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. She never had specific amounts (Grandmama did with hers), but mama went by taste and instinct, and it was always delicious. However, what made it real barbecue, is that the barbecue sauce has to be added at the end of the cooking process to candy a little on the meat. Adding sauce after, is just not good enough.

By the way, along with Bar-B-Que, you need coleslaw, baked beans, and corn on the cob cooked on the grill with barbecue sauce added at the end just like with the meat. Of course there needs to be sweet tea and homemade lemonade. And there must be myriad of deserts with sometime around mid-afternoon the ice cream churn is brought out for some old fashioned homemade ice cream.

That’s what Bar-B-Que means to me: good family, good food, and good fun.

4. What is your favorite summer food?

My favorite summer food is cold fried chicken. It brings up wonderful memories of family vacations. Mama would get up early on the morning we’d leave and fry a chicken and out it in the cooler. When lunch time rolled around, we’d stop and eat the fried chicken cold with potato chips and a Coke.

As for overall summer foods, I tend to like colder more refreshing dishes, such as sushi or even a pasta salad. There is a particular bacon and ranch pasta salad I love to make with chicken, broccoli and carrots added to it that is so filling, yummy and refreshing.

I also love a good cold sandwich. When I lived in Mississippi there was a little restaurant called the Spicy Pickle. I used to love to get their sandwich called The Med which had chicken, feta, kalamata olives, cucumber, pepperoncini, red onion, lettuce, tomato, Greek dressing served on ciabatta bread (I always requested no olives or tomatoes though). Served with a cold spicy pickle spear, a bag of chips or pasta salad and a sweet tea and you had a wonderful and refreshing lunch. Sadly, the location in Mississippi closed and the closest location is now Houston, TX, but luckily, the sandwich is easy to replicate.

5. Are you is swim suit shape yet?

No, I’m not, but who the fuck cares. We have the bodies we have and we should take pride in them. I plan to work on getting in swim suit shape this summer, but it’s not a quick process.

6. Given the choice, which do you prefer: ocean, lake or pool?

I prefer a pool. Lakes and rivers are full of snakes. I hate snakes. The ocean has sand, which gets in a lot of unpleasant places. The pool is clean and refreshing. So I prefer the pool. Don’t get me wrong though, I do love to go to the beach, but the pool is also much closer.

7. Which summer blockbuster movie are you most looking forward to seeing?

“Maleficent,” the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty,” sounds the most promising. (I’m also hoping to see Captain America and Spider-Man 2.) The description of “Maleficent” sounds like a good movie:

A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.

8. Summer reading: What? Recommendations?

To begin with, I plan to read Country Mouse and City Mouse by Amy Lane, The Romano and Albright books by LB Gregg, and Husband Material and The Accidental Cupid by Xavier Mayne. Once I get those read, I will probably read the Maze Runner series.

As for recommendations, I would suggest the two Brandt and Donnelly mysteries by Xavier Mayne, Frat House Troopers and Wrestling Demons. The Men of Smithfield collection by LB Gregg is also a fun read. I tend to suggest light reading over the summer.

I might read some more serious books over the summer, such as the newest Donna Leon book, By the Book, which I am currently reading. Maybe even a good history or two if I come across one.

9. Vacation Plans? If you can’t, what would you do if you could?

Besides the cruise next week, I am tentatively planning maybe a trip to South Carolina and/or possibly a trip to Orlando. I’ve also considered a trip to St. Louis over the summer. It’s halfway between where a dear friend of mine lives and where I live.

If I could choose anywhere to go on vacation during the summer and money was not a problem, I’d love to go to Europe. I have a friend touring Norway right now, and the pictures he’s sent me back look beautiful. However, if I had my first choice, it would be Italy or Greece. I’d also love to go visit a dear friend of mine in Hawaii. I’ve never been to Hawaii, but I’ve only heard great things about it.

10. Did you ever have to go to summer school?

Um, no. I’m The Closet Professor. It should be implied that I never had to attend summer school. However, during graduate school, I did sometimes take summer classes, and I’m officially one of the teachers qualified to teach summer school at the high school where I teach.

BONUS
Sex on the beach?

I think it’s a tasty drink.

And if you want real sex on the beach, you might want to try Pensacola Gay Memorial Day Weekend 2014.

Florida’s westernmost city, Pensacola is near the tip of the state’s northwest panhandle and has long had a reputation as a religiously conservative Navy town as well as a popular family resort area. If this doesn’t sound like an obvious destination for gay and lesbian travelers, it isn’t – at least most of the year. But in late May, during Memorial Day weekend, Pensacola is the site of one of the nation’s larger GLBT gatherings, a combination gay circuit party and regional gay pride event. The dates of the four-day Gay Memorial Day Weekend party are May 22 to May 26, 2014, and as many as 150,000 attendees from throughout the South are expected to attend this year, which features some brand-new parties and events in Pensacola Beach.

Here’s a look at 2014 Pensacola Memorial Day Weekend – check out the official calendar of events for more details:

As it has for many years, the city’s popular – and very fun – gay nightclub, Emerald City (406 E. Wright St., 850-433-9491), hosts a series of Pensacola Memorial Weekend parties, beginning on Thursday night and lasting until Monday evening (these include everything from the opening party on Thursday to an underwear party later in the weekend).

The main daytime events are the Splash Beach Fest celebration, held Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 am until 7 pm at an 11,000-square-foot pavilion in Pensacola Beach at Park East, a little over a mile east of Portofino Resort and Spa. Admission is free (you must be over 18), and guests are advised to bring tents, cabanas, and beach gear, but food, cocktails, and beer will be available. Each of these three days, there are parties during the day led by top DJs. The biggest nighttime event is be Saturday night’s WAVE Beach Party – it takes place from 10 pm until 4 in the morning. You can purchase tickets to WAVE Beach Party online or in person at the gate or the Memorial Day Weekend welcome center.

Pensacola’s other fun gay bars (such as the Roundup and The Cabaret), restaurants, hotels, and shops fill up with gay folks during Memorial Day weekend. The organizers of the Emerald City parties have GLBT-friendly hotel information on Pensacola (preferred properties include the Hilton Pensacola Beach, Hampton Inn Pensacola Beach, Paradise Inn Pensacola, and Pensacola Beach RV Resort), and you can also find more GLBT information on the region at Gay Grassroots Northwest Florida. Other resources of note include New Orleans-based Ambush Magazine.

For basic travel and tourism information on the region, you can also look to the Pensacola Bay Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. But think of his organization as a general guide to the area, not as a supporter of the event – the organization makes no mention of the Memorial Day Weekend party on its site, nor does it provide any information specifically geared to gay and lesbian visitors.

Tequila shots anyone? I try to limit my tequila intake, unless I’m ready to party and am in the right crowd. See, tequila makes me horny and very flirtatious. So whether it’s in a margarita, or someone, somehow has convinced me to take tequila shot, everybody better watch out because I’m on the prowl. Today, is the day for tequila for Americans. It’s Cinco de Mayo, which most Americans thinks means Mexican Independence Day, which it is not. For those of you who do not know, here is an explanation of Cinco de Mayo:

May 5. Mexican holiday commemorating the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862. The French army, better-equipped and far larger than the Mexican army, had been sent by Napoleon III to conquer Mexico. The Mexicans, under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated the French at Puebla, inflicting serious losses. The French withdrew to the coast but returned the next year to take Puebla; they would control most of Mexico for the next four years. Cinco de Mayo celebrations often include music, dancing, and parades.

In America, we tend to used this as an excuse to drink margaritas and take tequila shots.

I think it’s a great day to also celebrate the beauty of Latino men. I’ve always heard that there is nothing like a Latin lover.

I fell asleep last night as I was getting ready to write my post for today, and I could barely keep my eyes open to type this. Have a wonderful day.