Gay Bloggies

Okay! So... I suppose I live what some might call a rather spoiled life, but it wasn't always that way. I work very, very hard for everything I have, and I definitely believe in rewarding myself with nice things and special experiences. I have SO MANY guilty pleasures. (Catholic upbringing dictates that any pleasures I have should be guilty... I KNOW guilt) I guess the easiest thing to do is to pound out one of my famous CDX lists...

A look into my most decadent, self-satisfying and/or secret splurges...

1. Banya 5 Salt Scrub
Located in downtown Seattle, Banya 5 bills itself as an urban spa. Many of the elements at Banya 5 are based on a traditional Russian bath, however the salt scrub is VERY norCal-spa inspired. The attendant starts by giving a full-body massage (not THAT kind of full-body massage) using locally-sourced honey. A quick rinse with tepid saltwater and then a scrubdown using deep-sea salts. A moisturizing conditioning seal and a hair shampoo/conditioning treatment using organic handmade products finishes the treatment off. The price for this afternoon of relaxation and dermatological refinishing: $100 with tip.

2. Dinner at Jak's Grill
Jak's Grill is a West Seattle landmark, as famous for its well-aged Nebraska Beef as it is for its decidedly un-steakhouse-like prices. While the joint certainly isn't cheap, it is nowhere near as pricey as some of the more stuffy steakhouses. Add-in a simple, unpretentious, casual atmosphere and it easily rates as one of the top restaurants I have ever eaten in. My current favorite is the ribeye, 18oz of corn-fed, dry-aged beef. Served charred-rare with fresh horseradish and a Jak's U.F.O. (basically a potato pancake with a scoop of mashed potato on top.) Add a Tanqueray & tonic (or 2) and my meal is complete. Cost for this manly feast: $70 with tip.

3. DList.com
Not every guilty pleasure costs money... some just suck a whole lot of time away! I LOVE DList. There aren't as many bells and whistles as MySpace, which is totally fine by me. I love cruising through the profiles, looking at guys' photos and searching through the cities I travel to. I can seriously find HOURS evaporating as I get lost in an endless loop of little hotties competing for attention (watch out when they start unlocking their "private photos" ZOMG!) There are an awful lot of fake profiles, but I guess that goes with the territory. I am finally starting to see some representation of the hairier, beefier and/or slightly older gays on there, which is good. You can find my profile at dlist.com/cdx

4. LOL Cats
I know! So wrong! Whether it is running across a "Caturday" thread on fark.com or purposefully going to a site like icanhascheezburger.com I just cannot get enough of the LOL Cat meme. There is a whole entry on wikipedia that can explain it to you if you need that. For me, I just need read them and LOL. I don't even like cats.

5. Brothers and Sisters
This is as close to a soap opera as I can bear. Something about the Walker family on Brothers and Sisters just draws me in! Maybe I am just projecting, as it is something close to the family life I always wanted: Southern California, wealthy, Sally Field as my mom. Instead my real family had all of the drama, none of the wealth. And my mother is no Sally Field. I rented the Season 1 DVDs from Blockbuster and watched them all in 2 days. I never even got out of my sweatpants. Totally. Guilty. Pleasure. It doesn't hurt that Balthazar Getty is a fucking hottie, either. Actually all of the brothers are hot. Except the "gay" one, Kevin. Why is he such a fug? Now, Kevin's new boyfriend (the minister, who is the brother of the Senator, who is engaged to Kitty Walker, who is Kevin's sister)? SO HOT! But THAT is another blog.

6. Leslie Hall
This girl-rapper from Iowa is the shit! You may know her as Sweater Girl or Keeper of the Gems, but to pin her to that would be overlooking her most recent metamorphosis as a rather good purveyor of beats that make you want to bust a move. Her latest song/video is called How We Go Out, and it is fucking rad-iculous. Sure, she is a big gal, and her mom makes all of her costumes, but that is part of the charm. I dare you to not love Leslie Hall.

And there you have it. A half-dozen of my most guilty pleasures. Some other top contenders... sipping Veuve Clicquot (who am I kidding? I LOVE the Veuve. Shit gets me drunker than Dan Renzi in a blog-writing contest.... wait, what? YOU KNOW), reading James Patterson novels, finding as many remixes of Khia's My Neck, My Back as possible, watching StrongBad check his e.mails at homestarrunner.com and of course... chowing down on the McRib (MmmmmmmmcRib). Sure, my guilty pleasures run the gamut from high-brow to low-class, but they make me happy. And that is the important part ... the pleasure.

On a side note... I do like to help ease some of my "guilt" by spreading the wealth. Life can't all be champagne and gold spandex, right? So here's the deal... if I win the 1st or 2nd prize, I will be donating 50% of the post-tax cash prize amount to charity. (25% to the American Lung Association, 25% to AMFAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.) If I win any other cash prize I will be donating the full amount to the American Lung Association.

So there you have it. You can feel good voting for me - even if you hate my blog! In fact, not voting for me is like giving a thumbs-up to cancer and AIDS. You aren't THAT evil... are you?

Of course not.

Start clicking, dear.