The pic says it all

(Shamelessly borrowed from The Link, but it's a picture of my friends Stephanie and Hunter, so it just begs to be used)

Holiday Message

I’m heading to Columbia tomorrow for the holidays, but before I left I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice, and (for all you Atheists/Agnostics out there), happy last few days of December.

Much love to you all.

Was he flirting?: update. (Well, kind of an update)

This morning I went to the church that I spoke about in the “Was he flirting” post. I was hoping to have a new church experience, be around fellow young people in church (I’m one of the few young people at my current church), and get a chance to talk to Sam again.

The service was, well, have you ever seen the movie “Saved?” Yeah, it was like the high school auditorium scenes; heavy on the “praise and worship” and the “who’s down with G-O-D.” Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but the service today did spend a considerable amount of time singing “praise and worship” songs. There was a time in my life where this kind of service was what I needed in my relationship with God, and while it’s a perfectly legitimate way to worship the Lord, I’m just not in that space anymore.

On top of this, the pastor made thinly veiled swipes at Catholics for their reverence for the Virgin Mary. His brief mention on this issue allowed the congregation to misconstrue that Catholics worship the Virgin Mary on the same level as Christ, which either means the pastor has a deep misunderstanding of Catholicism or purposely prevaricated the issue—either doesn’t sit well with me.

Plus, I didn’t get the feeling that this could be a church that I would feel comfortable attending in regards to my sexuality. I also have no interest in doing mission trips in foreign lands (but I’m suppose to think about it apparently), or watching a video recording of several strangers’ baptism.

So yeah, I doubt I’ll be going to that church again. And to top it all off, SAM WASN’T EVEN THERE. So not only did I spend my Sunday at a service that I didn’t enjoy, feel comfortable at, or feel would help me “grow in Christ,” I didn’t get to talk to Sam. Also, since I won’t attend this church, my chances of seeing Sam greatly diminish.

All of this put me in a funk for the rest of day, and revived my perennial doubt of having a romantic relationship any time soon. No worries, I’ll probably be in a better mood tomorrow.

Et tu, Brute

The other night, I was hanging out with my friend Yendelela and her friend Adrian. At one point, I sided with Adrian in a minor disagreement, to which Yendelela jokingly said, “Et tu, Brute?” I laughed, and she expressed glee that I understood the literary reference. Apparently, she feels that the people who could understand the reference are few and far between. Once, she even had to explain the “Ides of March” to a Duke University Law student.

All this makes me wonder if the typical American has knowledge of similar scholarly references and facts. I know such knowledge is sort of inconsequential, but my God I hope the American education system hasn’t failed the populace that badly (or that the American populace has failed itself).

Was he flirting?

Yesterday, I went to a Christmas party in an apartment upstairs. I had previously met one of the roommates in the apartment complex gym a while ago, but I had not met his other two roommates yet.

So yeah, a party of about 30 people, and I only knew one of them. It was a little awkward, but it was also a lot of fun.

At the party, Ryan, the guy I knew, introduced me to Sam. Now, while I talked to plenty of people at the party, Sam and I talked a lot. To be more precise, Sam seemed to engage me in conversation. He knew few people at the party also, but he was too sociable and friendly for me to imagine that he was avoiding the social awkwardness of meeting a mass of new people. I just couldn’t see him being nervous talking to anyone else there.

So, I’d say 85% of the conversations I had that night were with Sam one-on-one. Our conversations were full of quick banter and jokes—really good stuff.

As the night progressed, I thought, “Wait, is he flirting?” I couldn’t figure it out, and I had no safe way to flirt with him beyond maintaining the conversations. Since I have not come out to Ryan (the guy who invited me to the party), or Ryan’s two roommates (who knew Sam), I could not ask them if Sam is gay. Coming out to someone you just met in order to ask them to give you dirt on guy you think is cute is not exactly kosher. And I couldn’t ask Sam for his number, because if he is straight, that would just be incredibly awkward and uncomfortable for both of us.

So, I’m left with not knowing if he’s gay or straight, or if he was flirting or what. I’m probably making a bigger deal out of this than it is, and more than likely, he is straight, because that’s just the way my life works (btw, grrrr). Nevertheless, since, Sam, Ryan, and a lot of the people that I met that night go to the same church in Durham, hopefully I’ll see Sam in the near future. Then, maybe I can get a better sense of what the hell is going on.

Oh the trials and tribulations of the gay man’s life.

All Hail the Hatchback Trunk

Recently I went outside to warm up my car, but when I came back to the car to leave for work, I found a problem—I couldn’t open the door. My engine was running, but the car would not let me use the remote “key fob” (thanks Robby for teaching me that term) to open the door. No problem right, just use the key? Well, the key would not turn; due to the cold the keyhole was kinda frozen.

Now, while I appreciate Ford Motor Company’s concern my safety, and thus making it impossible to use the key fob to open the door while the car is running, such a safeguard is a pain at times like these. I had no time to castigate (GRE WORD!) this safeguard however; and knew of only one way to get into my car—through the trunk.


For some reason (probably the raised rubber that surrounds the key hole) my trunk was able to open using the key. This little tidbit would have done me no good if I didn’t have a hatchback automobile. As you know, a normal sedan’s trunk is enclosed and does not allow access to the car’s cabin, but a hatchback allows full access to the cabin after removing the little roof thing (see attached picture).



So, imagine, a random black guy, crawling through the trunk of a car, and over the backseats. Yeah, even I couldn’t help but laugh. Thank God for my agility, flexibility, and relatively slender body. Soon after navigating the cabin of my car, I was off to work, being very glad that I purchased a hatchback.

Btw, someone told me about an aerosol-type can that is used to defrost keyholes. Does anyone know where I can purchase this—besides Wal-Mart, because, you know, Wal-Mart is evil.

I just wanted it noted...

...that I spent 4 years in college and never participated in a keg stand, or watched an entire game of beer pong. I've lived in Chapel Hill two and half months, and I've now done both.



Also, before tonight I've never seen someone build a chair fort to throw peanuts, but that's another story.