New blog.

OK, so I have a new blog. This one will still likely exist, but the new one will be updated more frequently I'm sure.

So if you like to drink, or are interested in delicious beverages, please visit Lovely Libations.

We are the people of this bus!

Growing up, our afternoon bus driver, Lynette, would politely pull over and let cars pass our slow school bus on the long stretch of two-lane highway that led to our country homes.

Naturally, this OUTRAGED us.

I mean, our lives were important! We had after-school cartoons to watch. We had chores to do, and god-dammit, we had times tables to memorize! We were the proletariat of this society! They should be letting US pass THEM!

We were the kids who got on the bus first in the morning, and last in the afternoon. We were veritable martyrs.

We'd whisper: "She's such a terrible driver! It's not even legal to let people pass you like this! She's putting us in danger!"

Then Lynette became our morning school bus driver, too. OH THE OPPRESSION! I mean, Oh My God, she would HONK THE HORN in the morning when we weren't out waiting. How hateful.

Somehow our collective outrage never developed past pre-teen angst.

If it would have, we would have picketed, refusing to board the bus until our demands to be home earlier were met! We would not rest until the 7:15 horn remained in patient silence!

The outrage we felt was laughable. Times certainly change. So do people. So did I.

The other night I read my friend Kristen's tweet about the protest at Temple Square about Boyd K. Packer's general conference remarks. I had read his talk and was naturally upset. There was only 30 minutes left of the protest (15 minutes of which would be spent driving downtown). But I decided I needed to be there.

Twenty-five minutes later I was running through downtown. Parking was scarce because of the protest. I had parked five blocks away. My full-speed run left me breathless, but I made it.

The protest was well-attended. And for the five-minutes I was there, I was happy to be doing what I was doing. Because God-dammit, I deserve my rights. And others deserve theirs, too. And nobody deserves to grow up in an environment where they are labeled "impure and unnatural."

As some of you know, my video "It Gets Better" has gotten quite the attention. I've had over 40,000 views on YouTube. I was interviewed by the LA Times and by the Associated Press.

And you know me... I LOVED the attention. But I also loved knowing that people were (are) watching my video.

I don't know what the point of this post is (except that this has been on my mind a lot). I guess I just want to say that it's nice to be a part of something that's bigger than me. It's nice to be working toward something that I know is right. And GOD, it's great to not have to ride the school bus.

I'm still pissed about all the Duck Tales I missed, though. That shit's irreparable.

Auto Parts, Groceries, and the AP

It Gets Better

My response to Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project.

The LOVELIEST Libation

Dear HF,

OMG, I love a Gin and Tonic. There's nothing more refreshing or soothing. LOL!

I recently stumbled upon this recipe for Gin and Tonic sorbet and like, got soooo excited! ROFL!

So I made it. And now I have the recipe perfected to my own standards. And OH MY, God, have you got to try this. Of course, I just needed to double the recipe and add more gin. That's sooo me, amiright!?

So HF, thanks againsies for this fab drinkie,

Amen.

RECIPE:

2 c. simple syrup

5 c. tonic water

1 c. lime juice

1 1/2 c. gin*

*I like New Amsterdam gin. It comes in a pretty bottle, is good quality and is pretty inexpensive.

So easy, just throw it all in your ice cream maker and freeze it. It takes a little longer than ice cream would, b/c of the alcohol and all, but it's well worth the wait.

You can also garnish with lime zest and/or a lime wedge. This only matters on the first round. After that, nobody will care.

Nick's dating tips.

I've been going on a lot of first dates lately. And it's excruciating. OH THE AWKWARDITY!

So I've come up with a few simple tips to assuage the terribleness of first dates. Here we go.

1. Expect your date to be a hot mess. So when the date doesn't end with a broken drag heel, running mascara and crying in the gutter, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

2. Make a list of questions to ask beforehand. Here are some suggestions:

-Aren't I adorable?

-Will you pick up the tab?

-How does one know if they have Herpes, hypothetically?

-Wouldn't you rather get a makeover at the MAC counter?

3. If the date is going really well, delve into some deeper topics:

-Look at my ass in these jeans!

-Buy me another beer, you bitch!

-OK, so what's your hottest celeb sex fantasy? Dead or alive.

-What's your middle name?

4. And if the date is boring, you might try making a friend instead and asking some intellectual questions like:

-Do you have friends?

-Are any of them cute?

-Are any of them single?

-What are their numbers?

-Will you have sex with me?

5. If you don't know if the date is going well, you're in a tough spot. I find it effective to always assume the worst: That your date has four tongues, two of which are poisonous and scaly. And his tail will rip through his jeans at any moment while he screams, "HA! You're a fool! I'm really an alien lizard!"

6. Find out up front what the other person is looking for. So are you looking for a serious relationship? Are you just casually dating? Do you like sex toys?

7. And lastly but not leastly, be confident. You have nothing to hide. If someone falls in love with you, you want it to be because they love you for who you are. Besides, I already published all your deepest secrets to the Internet. And everyone already knows your hottest celeb sex fantasy is me.

Watch this, you won't regret it.

"I also have shoes and, uh a face, so I like that about myself. And I like myself and I have a lot of other great qualities as well."

Did I say that?

After my workout and shower today at the gym, it was just me and one other guy changing. When a person's phone went off in a locker nearby by playing "Your Love is my Drug," by Ke$ha, the other man said, "Wow, that's a pretty gay ringtone."

So I paused for a second, looked at him and said (to my own surprise!), "You know, that's offensive. I happen to be gay." So bold! So scary! So personal! So confrontational! So unlike me!

He muttered a half apology and we both dressed in AWKWARD silence. I rushed out of the locker room. Still staring at the floor, but so damn proud.

We're gonna getcha!

One of the most hilarious pieces of hate speech against gays is that the gays are infiltrating and taking over society.

I hear it, and I'm all, DUH!

My favorite quote from Glee between BFFs Mercedes (beautiful black woman) and Kurt (gay): "Mercedes is black, I'm gay: We make culture."

And I'm all, DUH!

You see, as my time passes as an out gay man it becomes easier and easier to spot other gays.

I express this to my friends. "The gays. They're everywhere! EVERYWHERE! THE GAYS! DO YOU HEAR ME!"

And they're all, DUH!

And so for the hell of it, and to prove my point DAMNIT, here are some stats from my very gay life.

6 people I knew at BYU-Idaho are now out-of-the closet gays. 4 of these I knew before I acknowledged that I was gay to myself.

I come from a tiny-ass town. And more specifically, a rural area outside of the small-ass town. And in my rural area, I can think of 6 confirmed homosexuals. And all within 10 years of my age.

61 men within 10 miles of me are currently on connexion.org, a favorite gay dating web site.

25,000 people who attended Utah Pride 2010. Of course, not all are gay. But that's still a lot.

3 people I served with on my mission are gay.

And in general, I see them everywhere. At the gym, at the grocery store, next to me in traffic. Everywhere.

Basically I just wanted to write and say if you hate gays, well, you'd best not. 'Cause we're out there. We're everywhere. We're infiltrating your literature! Your art! Your television! We'll make you miserable (your fault, not ours)!

Obviously. The gays? Oh, they're everywhere.

Ya'll been missing me?

I haven't updated in forevsies. Stream-of-conciousness awesomeness coming atcha. (This post is better if you read it in a fast-paced ADHD voice. Thank you.)

-Went to the Arts Fest. It was awesome. While leaving for afternoon cocktails at a nearby bar, a street preacher was yapping about how "I'm gay! Not homosexual! GAY MEANS HAPPY." Whatevs. He was weird. So I shouted and raised my hand, "I'm homosexual!" The line waiting to get in cheered. So proud of my 'lil moment.

-Shaved my head. Cut it all right off. Low maintenance hairstyle = amazing. PICTURE:

So yep, thats me looking oh-so-vogue sexy. Damn straight. Also note the tank top. I have purchased no less than 5 tank tops this summer. Couldn't be happier. Tank tops + no bed head ever = best summer ever.

-Got maself a clock radio. JK. Already had one.

-Injured... so no running. Outdid myself and made my knee hurt real bad on my 7.5 mile run. Now I can run an amazingly low 2 miles only without pain. Pissed, but lesson learned.

-But I did hire a personal trainer. He wants me to find a picture of what I want to look like when I'm done. Looked through no less than 1,327,451 pics online and finally found the one that was perfsies. HAWT man be me in 12 months or less.

-On the board for the Utah AIDS Foundation's Walk for Life coming up in Sept. Can't wait. Them posters gonna be brills.

-Don't know what's with the Utah-preteen-gay-gangster-lol-catz talk. Srsly.

-Wuz on hotguysreadingbooks. With this fab pic:

Thanks be to my coworker K-W whom I love, for the picture.

-Summer is here and parties galore. Not that they weren't before. But now our parties have tiki torches. And I burned my hand on one cause I didn't know what I was doing, but now I know so ask me anything about tiki torches.

-Wish I could quit my job and ride my bike around the world. Just live like the little hipster that lives inside me but with more space and less guts. I'd play my uke at liberty park, but in my dreams there would be no oil spill. And I would have a better singing voice.

-Or I'd go to summer camp.

-Wish I was funny like this bitch. Watch out for that F-bomb straight up at the front.

-But I am funny. Was makin' everyone bust a gut at a recent party. A few quotes that were gems:

"Goddamnit! Guacomole and genocide!"

"What are you doing?" "Oh you know, just weaving placenta."

I know, you don't get it. I don't care, it's funnier this way. Promises promises.

-OMG watched "Funny Girl" for the first time. Love that Babs. She's the prettiest. AND, Carrie Bradshaw? I got news for you honey, you stole your moves straight up from that fine Jewish specimen. Guaranteed. I can just see Miss Jessica Parker (wish I could hate her) watching "Funny Girl" and stealin' every mannerism. Whatever.

-Just living the summer of love and amazingness here in SoSaLa (South Salt Lake, duh).

-Misses and kisses to you all.

Well isn't that just lovely...

So many wonderful things about my life lately. I'd like to share them with you.

For those of you who don't know, I moved into my friend Blake's townhouse. It's much cheaper here, and it's a financially responsible decision for me. I carpool with my coworker, and it's nice to have people at home from time to time. One of my favorite things about living here so far has been the garden. Blake doesn't have a lot of desire to garden, so he's allowed me to plant whatever I want. Here's what's in my garden:

Strawberries. These were here before Blake moved in, so I trimmed them back, and they've produced many small, but delicious berries this year.

The Geraniums are out of control!

And other various flowers. I've got some Cosmos, some Zinnias, some Impatiens. Some other stuff that I cannot name. Because I forgot what it's all called.

Also, I just had my first Pride. It was so totally, unbelievably brilliant and rewarding. I marched with the Utah AIDS Foundation. This organization is run by such great people, and it was (and is!) a privilege to be involved with them.

Blake marched with us too. Blake is one of the good ones. It was his job to carry the rainbow flag, and he carried it so proudly. There were a few moments where I watched him, saw the pure happiness and pride in his face and nearly burst into tears. It was amazing. The look on his face expressed how I was feeling inside. So damn proud to be me.

These are some of the most brilliant, amazing people I know. Some of my best friends who marched with me. (L-R: Lydia, Blake, Denice, and me). I'm crying a little, just looking at this picture.

I've also been training for a half marathon. I'm not sure which, but my drive to be fit has never been more. Since I'm running about 6-7 miles right now, I decided to run the Pride 5k. A local photographer took this AMAZING picture of me. I was proud of my time (26:20), and Denice and Blake were there to cheer me on. Amazeballs friends. Just amazeballs.

Also, there's been this great boy lately, Danny. We've had a lot of fun over the last month or so. Problem is, he's moving back to D.C. (He was here on temporary assignment). I knew he'd be leaving all along, so it's no surprise, but I'll be sad to see him go. But he's just been one more thing to top off the greatness in my life right now.

For my fans

OH. MY. GOD. You guys are such stalkers. I wish you'd all quit emailing me for shirtless photos of myself. Argh! Anyway. Here. Shut up, already.

What I believe, and how it has changed my life. Part 1.

OK, so coming out this, coming out that. I know, I know. It's all I talk about. Whatever.

Coming out for me was not just telling the world I was gay, it was re-examining everything I believed, why I believed it, and changing the things that just didn't make sense anymore. So I'm thinking this might be some sort of series -- but I'm lazy and rarely complete series. So. Anyway. Yeah. There's a lot of these swimming around in my head. Here's the first.

What I used to believe: That there was one true path to God. One way to happiness. That God wants us to be one, big, homogenized family.

What I believe now: Well, I don't believe that God exists. But I believe that if he does exist, he made us all the way we are. I believe that if he exists, he loves the Andy Warhols as much as he loves ... Glen Beck? Maybe? I believe that happiness is found by expressing your personal freedoms. I believe that we are damn lucky if we get to discover who we really are, deep down, in this life. Even luckier if we have the opportunity to express it. I believe that one should not do harm to others or the earth. But I do not believe in sin.

How it affects my life: I don't worry about fitting into an imaginary mold anymore. I focus on being me, doing what brings me happiness and doing what I think will help individual humans and humanity as a whole. Life has become somewhat of an experiment for me. I'm not afraid of messing up anymore. I'm not worried about being on the right path.

Instead, I try to be happy. I try to be me. And I try to let/help others do the same thing.

Cheers, bitches.

Run your very own gay 10k!

'Cause I'm not a quitter.

OK, OK, I'm a quitter. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I get bored easily. But I do recognize that I lack motivation to finish things. My house is full of half-finished art projects. And my brain is even fuller of ideas I've never brought to fruition.

Since college, I've had few, if any, goals. But now I'm on the cusp of completing a big one. Next weekend my coworker and I are traveling to St. George to run a 10k. In my training, I've run further than I ever have before. But I've wanted to quit. I've wanted to quit so bad. The long runs are agonizing, painful, and sometimes just plain boring.

But I'm going to stick with it. Tomorrow is my last run before the big race. And even though it feels like my calves are never going to stop hurting, I remember that I'm trying to be a finisher. At the very least, a not-quitter. Wait, that's the same thing, isn't it?

This.

Welcome to my world.

Homophobia.

I'm guilty of homophobia.

When I was on my mission, in Vermont, a gay couple invited my companion and I to dinner. We scheduled the dinner more than a week in advance, and during the entire week, I was terrified. What would this couple do to us? Would they trap us in their basement dungeon? Would they poison us? I was irrational. Completely.

When we got to dinner, the couple invited us into the showroom of their antique shop where we ate at a beautiful rustic table. We ate the best pork roast I've had, delightful mashed potatoes and fresh, hot apple sauce. It was delicious. It was also pleasant. The couple told us that they had been feeding Mormons for years (no doubt trying to enlighten dozens of terrified pale-faced missionaries).

We shared a bible verse, then left.

A few months ago, I was walking home from a party late at night. I was walking quickly, as I normally do when it's late at night and freezing cold. I passed some teenagers. They asked me for cigarettes. I told them I didn't have any. And I kept walking. Then one said loudly, "Dude! You walk like a queer!" The rest of the teenagers laughed cruelly. My heart started beating quickly. I walked more quickly as I became more upset. I wasn't as upset at the personal attack, as I was at the overall feeling of homophobia that existed among that group of teenagers.

Even more recently, I stopped to get coffee at Café Marmalade, the Utah Pride Center's coffee shop, before work. While I waited for my coffee, I realized that there was a discussion group going on. There were gay boys and girls gathered around talking about what it meant to be gay. That coffee shop must be such a haven for those kids. I wanted to go around the room and give them all hugs, knowing that they probably faced homophobia at school every day.

So some questions. When have you experienced or witnessed homophobia? When have you been guilty of it yourself?

Highlights from my life recently, in pictures.

A spelling lesson, sort of.

I love this.

via @tricktcha, my delightful cousin, whose blog is consistently inspiring.

My new hobby.

Yesterday I bought a sewing machine. Today I made this. I plan to make more. I found the instructions here.

Now with more choppy editing!