As most of you know – Jen and I are planning to move out of NY to Oregon. When I had returned from my trip upstate in April I talked to Jen about my job, cost of living in NYC, and how if we could eliminate some of the negative and toxic things in our lives we might be better, happier, and stronger.

It had been so long since we had taken a real vacation or even had a break from work. In June we went to Portland after taking some time and checking out travel sites and reviews of “gay-friendly” cities. We also asked our friends who live in different places what cities seem to be open minded and also have weather that we could both tolerate.

Our trip was great and we reconnected. It felt “new” and alive again. Getting away from our environment and being on an “adventure” together did wonders for us. When we returned we talked about what we need to do to make our move across the country happen. Turns out though, as life has a way of doing this, there’s of course several hurdles to overcome:

1: jobs
2: find a place to live
3: move our shit

These aren’t bad, but it’s stressful. My experiences with moving were from college when my aunt would rent a van or something and drive me and my junk up to college and back every year and moving to the apt. I’m in with Jen. I don’t want to take a lot of furniture across the country and wish I was a minimalist in many ways – I have a lot of cds, books, movies, and just things… I don’t own a lot of clothes and we don’t have a lot of furniture but the amount we have can’t fit into a car. I’ve been spending the summer selling things and trying to downsize my crap. It’s worked out but not without headaches. I got rid of my amps and 1 guitar. I still have a bass guitar and I think I may end up moving with it or selling it to a music store for whatever amount of cash I can get. The other three guitars I am keeping. One is signed by several musicians like the Indigo Girls, Nini Camps, and Laurie Geltman. The other ones I actively play and have no intention of selling.

So my summer has been spent being unemployed which is so nice after a few years of working in an industry that was ok but in the end, not where my passion lies and after this past year felt horrible. I’ve been writing articles and that has awakened a hobby. When I was younger I’d write stories, poems, and songs – then I just stopped. I don’t know why. So writing articles is a good step into a hobby I had abandoned. I still have to get back into playing guitar and goofing around with learning songs. It’s been probably 8 months since I’ve seriously tried to learn a song.

As the money runs out, I get more nervous about things but I’m trying to just live, just be, and go with it. I’m trying to enjoy my time off and have fun with Jen. We may never have this type of situation again where we were both unemployed and had time to just hang out, be the little kids we are at heart, and play video games together. It was fun.

She has a freelance gig right now and is back into the 9 to 5 routine. I get up with her in the morning and try to keep a task list of things I want to accomplish during the day. I realized if I don’t try to keep a routine I can get very very stuck in my head, withdrawn, and be a hermit. It’s not good for me and it’s been a mild summer so I should get out and about. I am jealous sometimes of the motivation some of my other friends have to go see free concerts, go to Central Park, run around the city. I would like to do things like that but then I say to myself, “It’ll take 45 min to get to Central Park…” or “I don’t want to be in a crowd.” Then I stay home or just take walk around my own neighborhood. I’m trying to change that.

The best kick in the pants I gave myself recently was to walk my friend’s dogs in Jersey City – it made me get up at the same time everyday, not watch bad daytime tv, and be out and active. I would hang out for a few hours with the dogs, then on the way home I’d wander a bit either around NJ or downtown Manhattan. One day I got the push to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge all the way home. I was happy with that and this week I want to try and retain some of that motion by leaving the house everyday, doing things around the house, and making sure I am active.

I don’t like being in a funk or being weirdly quiet and not knowing why. I also don’t like being stressed out and moody which I’m prone to do – I worry more than Jen about things and I get hyperparanoid about things and think the worst at times. I’ve been working on that and think I’ve made good progress. Jen tells me she’s proud of me and that means the world to me and keeps me wanting to try and improve my state of mind.

I spose we never fully “grow up.” In a few weeks I’ll be upstate visiting my college friends and they are always a good group to be submerged in and they can make me feel better. We’re a strong circle of friends and they are basically my extended family – bunch of misfits!

Well, there’s my entry for today. Now I have to go clean the litter box and figure out how to get things done even though I think I twisted my ankle. WOOT.

Ages of suspects range from 9 to 14, Phoenix police say

Michael Ferraresi GANNETT NEWS / The Arizona Republic

The summer scene at a west Phoenix apartment complex was tranquil Wednesday evening. Parents and children chatted on their stoops as the sun set. They bought ice cream from a vendor’s push cart.

One week ago, around the same time of day, residents of the complex were startled by the screams of a partially clothed 8-year-old girl who ran screaming from a storage shed at a vacant unit.

Phoenix police on Wednesday announced that they arrested four neighborhood boys in connection with the incident, in which investigators said the group lured the girl into the shed with chewing gum, held her down and sexually assaulted her.

Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill, a longtime public-information officer, described the case as “one of the worst crimes we have come across in Phoenix in quite some time,” given the ages of the victim and the suspects, as well as the circumstances of the reported attack.

The girl and the four suspects are refugees from the war-torn West African country of Liberia, which, according to investigators, would complicate authenticating names and dates of birth.

Arizona Child Protective Services took custody of the girl after the July 16 incident at the apartment complex after her parents disowned her.

Hill said the parents blamed her for being victimized and bringing shame to the family.

CPS and the families could not be reached for comment.

Phoenix investigators are requesting that the oldest suspect, age 14, be prosecuted as an adult.

He and the three others – ages 9, 10 and 13 – were taken to a Maricopa County juvenile-detention center late Tuesday on charges of sexual assault. Three of the four boys also could be charged with kidnapping, according to police.

Each of the suspects admitted to the assault, according to investigators. Hill said three of the boys lived with their families at the complex.

He added that they “took turns” in the attack, the shed door opening as different boys entered.

Police said the victim knew her attackers, but they are unclear on how long the families lived in the complex or how long it had been since they fled Liberia.

---

Sometimes progress seems to take 2 steps forward and 3 steps back.

So this is a sticker my friend in Portland took a pic of – seems to be there are a few of these floating around there. Is this a movement by smurfs? Or furries who want to be smurfs?

Yes, yes they do.

I’m just sayin’