Chapter 121: Love Game (Chew Fu Ghettohouse Mix)

So, it’s been about 12 hours since I’ve done this, so I’ve already covered the first part of today. When last we left off, it was about 1pm and my Mom was on her way home from overtime at work & we were talking about going out for brunch/lunch and running a few errands. When she got here, I was still in my pajamas, though, so she chilled for a little bit and got on the phone with her boyfriend, while I got dressed and did hair and makeup. Aside from breakfast, the only other clearly defined plan we had was to stop by my bank to withdraw my portion of rent and bills for this week. My bank closes at 3pm on Saturday and it was nearly 2:30pm when I finished getting ready. It was about ten ‘til 3 when I got to the bank and my gorgeous personal banker, Matt, greeted me at the door but immediately directed me to the teller at the front instead of taking me to his desk and chatting me up like he has every other time I have gone in there. That was a little disappointing, but nothing that was a big deal. After that I stopped into the Starbucks next door to the bank for a Chai Tea Latte, and my Mom and I were off to start the day. We weren’t sure where we wanted to go for lunch but we both kind of agreed that wherever we were going, we were going to Bradenton. I’m not sure why exactly, but when we actually go out for lunch we have a tendency to find random but good places in Bradenton, so we figured we’d head that way and see what we could come up with. Before heading to Bradenton, though, we had to make a stop. Last night I discovered that my pink BIC lighter had died and I didn’t have any sort of backup. I figured if we were driving all the way to Bradenton and didn’t have any actual idea of where we were going, I’d probably need to smoke. I was able to use the oven while I was at home, but needed an actual lighter for while I was on the go. We were heading down 17th Street and knew there was a Walgreen’s up ahead, so we decided to stop there. She needed to pick up a couple random things at Walgreen’s, anyway, and I wanted to check out the cosmetics sale they have there every Saturday.

After withdrawing my share of rent and bills for this paycheck, I had $207 left in the bank, so I knew I didn’t need to be overly concerned with money but also couldn’t go on any sort of spending spree or anything. While at Walgreen’s I remained conscious of this concept and only picked up a few things. I got 2 new Maybelline Eye Studio eyeshadow duos, Lawless Lavender and Mocha Mirage, as well as a new bottle of Method hand soap, since the one I have is almost empty and Method just feels better and I prefer their scents to most regular hand soaps. I was pretty excited about those Maybelline Eye Studio duos, though, because I bought a couple a few weeks ago, in Navy Narcissist and Ivy Icon, and they have become two of my favorite eyeshadows that I have. The majority of the eye makeup I have bought recently is from the Maybelline Eye Studio line, as well – I really like all of the stuff in this line. They are pretty awesome. Plus, the two I bought today are in colors that I have been saying I need to get more of – pink and purple. Also, the Mocha Mirage is a combination of a really cool shade of pink and a sparkly bronze/gold color that I kind of fell in love with. I wound up spending about $20 at Walgreen’s, which wasn’t overly excessive and wouldn’t set me back in any significant way.

We headed to Bradenton, talking and listening to music, and eventually came upon this place we had been to once before and really enjoyed, called Stacey’s Buffet. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but my Mom really has a thing for “country buffets.” I enjoy the food in these places a lot as well but always feel a little awkward being in them. They are almost always full of elderly, southern types who give me funny looks the whole time I am there. I am not one of those people who is overly concerned with the looks I get from people, honestly, but when you’re getting a good amount of them in one place you can’t help but feel a little out of place. I suppose it goes with the territory, though, of being a guy of my size and stature wearing considerable amounts of makeup, especially when you’re clearly not a goth type or anything like that, which I clearly am not. The one thing I hate about that, though, is when people say, “Well, you can’t get upset about getting weird looks, you’re obviously trying to get attention.” That just seems like such a narrow-minded view. I mean, wearing makeup is certainly about getting attention in part, but no more than it is for girls who wear a lot of makeup. For me, makeup is more about making a statement and, as I have discussed here previously, creating a bit of an artwork with my look. I just hate when people consider it something that is solely for the purpose of getting attention just because I am a guy doing it. Fuck those people, though.

While we were at this buffet, I immediately noticed one of the busboys looking at me. He wasn’t giving me one of those funny looks, though. I wasn’t sure at first, but I thought he might have been checking me out. He was standing there with a girl who also worked there. As we were eating, I kept noticing the girl looking at me, as well. She kept making eye contact and smiling. I figured she was just being friendly, but she kept doing it every time she passed. Then the guy kept coming by our table and saying hello, asking if we needed anything, etc. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but he was kind of doing it pretty excessively considering this place was pretty crowded and we didn’t notice him doing that to any other tables. Eventually my Mom said, “I think that guy must like you, he keeps looking over here and stuff.” Now, this is like the second time in the past week that I have mentioned a guy checking me out and I don’t want to come across as one of those people who always thinks people are checking me out or flirting with me because I know those people and they are obnoxious. The only reason I mention this is because I have kind of been working to put the frequency of availability and openness out into the Universe, and this makes me think that it must be working. This guy never actually said anything to me and I didn’t find him attractive enough to go out of my way to talk to him or anything, but it was nice to have a little possible confirmation that what I am putting out into the Universe is being recognized.

After lunch, my Mom and I drove back to Sarasota and went over her favorite bridge, going out towards St. Armand’s Circle and Lido Beach. We were listening to some of our favorite music from Broadway’s finest ladies, including Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth and Lea Michele from “Glee.” I love the fact that my Mom has developed such an interest in some of these Broadway divas and can appreciate listening to songs from Broadway Cast Recordings and such thanks to me. In fact, one of my favorite qualities in my Mom is her openness to new and different types of music and art and such. She is, in some ways, very traditional but she is also extremely open-minded, both in terms of art and in terms of life. I really appreciate that about her. She has told me that she feels like she has me to thank for a lot of that because I have exposed her to so many different things, both in terms of art and life. My Mom and I actually have a really cool relationship, I think. It is different than the relationship that a lot of people have with their mothers, but it is a really cool one. We are both really open with one another and are constantly learning from each other. In fact, we were just having a discussion while driving today about the fact that if she weren’t my mother and we just met by other means, we would probably develop a relationship very similar to the one we already have because we are bonded in ways so much deeper than blood, I think. I don’t know. Like I said, though, it is a really cool relationship that we have and I am extremely grateful for it.

During this drive, I also briefly conversed with my friend Rachel via Facebook, and she told me that she probably has to cancel our plans for the Ringling Museum tomorrow due to some issues at her work. I told her that was perfectly fine and that we could do it some other time. I also kind of decided that instead of going to view art tomorrow, perhaps I would use that time to create some art. This meant a trip to Michael’s, the Arts & Crafts Store, for some supplies. We headed up to Gulf Gate and I picked up a few very handy things at Michael’s, including a 12 pack of fabric paints in all the essential colors. I had a little trouble selecting fabric paints, however, because they all seemed to be that “puffy” or “raised” style. I did not want to do anything puffy or raised. I am not trying to make a t-shirt for a school sporting event or anything silly like that – I am trying to make something that could possibly be passed off as real fashion. I also picked up some spray glitter, which is supposed to be permanent and is designed specifically for use on fabrics, as well as a set of fabric brushes. I wound up spending about $25 there. This also wasn’t anything that was going to put me out long term or anything. However, right next door to Michael’s is an Old Navy. I am not a HUGE fan of Old Navy, but I like to check them out every so often for very basic items, like plain solids, stripes or simple patterns, like argyles and such. Basically, Old Navy is where I go for “nothing fancy” items that can be paired with other items to kind of punch up an outfit. We decided to stop in for a minute just to see what was new. As I have mentioned here, my colors for Spring are white, purple and pink – which, coincidentally, seem to be Old Navy’s colors for Spring, as well. The good thing about Old Navy, though, is that they have a lot of stuff that is extremely reasonably priced. I was trying to be frugal about it, but I simply couldn’t resist a lavender colored v-neck for $6 and a reddish pink t-shirt style polo for $10. I only spent about $17 there, but realized shortly thereafter that the combination of my three stops this evening brought me down to somewhere in the $130 range. $133.05, to be exact. This isn’t anything that is a major problem, really, but it is probably more than I should have spent today and means that I really need to watch my spending until my next paycheck. After all, I still need to have cash for the planned sushi dinner after the Gaga Flash Mob next weekend, as well as for my music lessons. I don’t know how exactly that is going to go down at this point, though. I know the first lesson is free, and it’s in the $30-40 range moving forward. I just don’t know if I am going to be scheduling my second lesson this week, as well, or if it will be next week. I can certainly afford a second lesson next week, but if they are going to recommend a second one this week and two more next week, I can’t really afford that. I could probably pull off a second one this week and another one next week, but I don’t know what is going to be suggested. As much as I would like to do two a week, I am really hoping that it winds up just being once a week. It seems like that would be easier for me financially, as well as orchestrating a way there and back.

After all of this, it was already about 7:30pm and my Mom and I were both feeling pretty ready to get home. Once we got back here, my Mom got on the phone with her boyfriend and pretty much stayed that way for the next few hours. I decided to use that time to kind of clean and organize my bathroom because the counter in there has basically been covered in a big, disorganized mess of makeup. My Mom happened to find in her room recently one of those “gift with purchase” Calvin Klein makeup bags, which she gave to me. So, I spent a while getting all my makeup gathered and put into this bag, as well as putting all of my medicine cabinet items back into the medicine cabinet, as they were also strewn all over the place, and giving the counters a good scrubbing as all kinds of makeup and such had gotten on the surfaces. Since I was already on a bit of a roll with the cleaning, I decided to also clean my computer desk, which has been covered in all kinds of mess for the longest time. It had all kinds of papers, change, accessories and jewelry, electronic cords, headphones and all kinds of other mess all over it. It was also covered in dust. I got everything off of it and organized or thrown away or whatever needed to happen with it and Windexed the shit out of the desk. I am not normally one who gives a crap about these things, but it is kind of nice to have these nice, clean work environments – after all, the bathroom and the computer both tend to be my most frequent workspaces.

That is basically how I spent the rest of this evening. My Mom eventually got off the phone and we sat in the living room and watched “Saturday Night Live” together, which was a considerably better episode than most of them have been lately. Zach Galifianakis hosted and I don’t generally care for him but he was quite funny on SNL. Also, the musical guest was the band Vampire Weekend, whose name I have heard a lot but had never actually heard any of their music. They were pretty impressive and as soon as the episode ended, I went to track down their album online. I also stumbled upon this Japan Only release from Lady Gaga, called “The Remix.” It features 2 remixes of each single from “The Fame” and 3 each of “Bad Romance” and “Telephone.” It’s pretty hot shit and includes the “Love Game” Chew Fu Ghettohouse Mix featuring Marilyn Manson, which I had only heard once or twice before and was never very impressed with. Hearing it again, though, it is actually pretty amazing. I’m not sure why I didn’t get it before, but I am kind of in love with it right now. It’s a really cool take on the song and Marilyn Manson’s guest vocals give a very interesting twist to an already pretty interesting remix. I like it a lot. I like everything Gaga does, though, honestly. I have yet to hear anything from her that I haven’t absolutely loved. Overall, it was pretty good day. It wasn’t overly eventful, but I had fun and got some really cool stuff that I am already dreaming up awesome things to do with – I didn’t even do it on purpose, but I realized that the two Old Navy shirts kind of perfectly match the two Maybelline duos I bought, so I am pretty excited to start pairing them up.

Tomorrow, I have decided, is dedicated to two things and two things only: Laundry and art. In the process of cleaning up my bedroom and bathroom I realized that I have a LOT of dirty clothes. I basically need to wake up in the morning and start laundry and not stop for the rest of the day. Fortunately, laundry is one of those chores that don’t require too much attention, so I can check in on it in the midst of working on art. For right now, since I am just experimenting, I didn’t buy any new shirts to work with and am just going to experiment with some of my old plain white Calvin Klein tees, since I have so many of them and can afford to lose some if they get ruined or something. I am pretty excited to see what I can do with these fabric paints. I’ve also recently decided that I want to do some more experimental makeup looks to photograph. I have also been researching different types of lighting techniques to make for better, more interesting and professional looking photos and would like to experiment with some of that, as well. We’ll see what I can come up with, though. I don’t know that I will work on anything tomorrow as far as photography goes, but it is sure to be a pretty productive day, I think. Tomorrow also happens to be Oscar night, so that should be pretty interesting, as well. I have my DVR set to record it, so I don’t honestly know if I will end up watching the show or not. The Oscars, in my opinion, tend to be the most boring show of awards season. I know that it is the most prestigious awards ceremony, but they just don’t seem to do a whole lot to spice it up. I may watch, though, to find out which movies are winning. This year I have probably seen more of the nominated films than I have in any other year, so I am a little more curious to see what happens with them. For now, though, it is 3:15am and I really need to get to sleep.