I Whistle at Derby Girls

The fonts are crazy in the post and I have no idea why.  And I'm not inclined to waste my time trying to fix it.  You'll deal because you love me that much.

MAN, what a week!  Every day this week was up at 6 for work. Work, work, work all day (remember I’m 3 lawyers right now – 2 Captains and a Major – until we get some new personnel in here in a few months).  The rush home, play with baby, make and scarf dinner, and load onto the car for the hour and 10 minute drive to Roller Derby practice.  Practice until 10 or so (10:30 half the time).  Head home and hit the rack by 12:30 if I’m lucky. 

*  *  *  This next part is rather boring.  If you’re bored of my long posts, feel free to skip down to the next set of asterisks *  *  *

Oh, except Wednesday morning when I had to get up at 5 to run my annual PFT (physical fitness test for Marines).  It was my first post pregnancy PFT, and I was both happy and disappointed with the result.  I got my lowest score ever, by far (277 out of 300 – still a First Class, but I have never come below 280 before – in 10 years).  Granted, I’ve never run a PFT after building a person, but still.  What dragged down my score?  The same thing that always does, the damn run.  I always, always max the flexed arm, and it was no different this time.  I always, always max the sit ups – this time I only got 98.  Out of 100.  How annoying is that?  If I had just done them 5 seconds faster, I could have maxed the sit ups like I normally do and gotten 2 more points.  *pout*

But it was the run.  Ugh, the run.  I lost a LOT of time off my run while I was pregnant.  Some women run throughout their entire pregnancies.  I envy them.  I had to stop running and switch to swimming at 7 months.  I still stayed fit, but my run time plummeted.  Before TBS and pregnancy, I could run my 3 mile in under 21 minutes.  Two weeks after Flintstone was born, 3 miles took me 29 minutes in perfect weather and well rested.  A few weeks ago I ran a practice PFT and clocked in at 26:30.  So, really, I’ve been improving a lot.  From 29 minutes to 24:28 in 7 months isn’t bad.  Still, I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to 21 minutes.  At least not any time soon – especially since we’re considering having another baby after my jaw surgery. 

*  *  *  End Tangent.  *  *  *

The long and short of it is that it has been a crazy, jam-packed go-go-go week.  On top of my insane schedule at work, I ran a PFT, and presented arguments to our Church board as to why they should allow us to start a CUUPs (Covenant of UU Pagans) chapter.  I have been go-go-going constantly every minute of every very long day every day of this extremely long week.

And I’ve been a horrible Mommy.  The Mommy Guilt is coming out my ears.  Absolutely ever second that I haven’t been at work, meetings, or Derby, Flintstone has been GLUED to me.  The poor little guy.  I can tell he misses all the Mommy time.  He’s still happy and full of giggles all the time, but he’s definitely a little clingy.  I can’t wait to make this up to him on Saturday. 

But even though I feel hella guilty, it has been so, so worth it.  I have been trying to do Roller Derby since I was in Law School.  The Gotham Girls, the Brooklyn Bombshells, River City Rollergirls – I’ve contacted them all.  I’ve flirted with the teams.  I’ve even checked out practices.  But I could never quite pull it off. I couldn’t make the commitment.  I didn’t have time to master the skating skills on my own.  I was just moving too damn often.

Well, I’ve finally pulled it off.  Thanks to the Savannah Derby Devils Boot Camp (pictures), I’ve got the skills and I’m ready to do this.  I can’t become a full on RollerGirl just yet because it’s still too much time.  They practice three times a week over an hour away.  But I’m going to Ref (and so is MacGyver!  How awesome is that?  Do I have the coolest hubby ever, or what?) which is one practice a week.  I can totally do that.  Sooooo excited.  *Squee*

Tonight is the Boot Camp Party.  I’m also super excited about that.  We don’t have any real “party” friends down here yet, so we really only get to go out partying when we visit Michigan or New York (though, granted, we make it to both places a couple times a year and those are some damn good parties).  I’m so excited to go out and have a few drinks with these amazing, crazy women; swap stories about the week; butcher some karaoke (think I can persuade MacGyver to do a horrific duet?); and do it all in club clothes – it’s been a long time since I got all done up.  Although last night at practice I did wear the hottest pair of red and black stockings.  And of course there are no pictures of me in those.  They only took pictures of me the night I looked completely awful after the PFT.  Oh well.

This week, while exhausting, was great.  Tonight is going to be amazing.  And tomorrow, MacGyver promises me a whole day of relaxing and baby cuddles.

This post was supposed to be about skating and my take on Boot Camp, but it didn’t exactly end up that way.  Be prepared for that one in the future – with pictures!

See you all when stupid Blogger starts working again.

Veggie Brain

*** This is one of the 30 or so posts that have been languishing on my computer desktop, just a thought or a note, waiting for its moment of glory here on this highly respected blog :-P ***

      I recently read a very interesting article in Psychology Today about the differences in brain chemistry/wiring between vegetarians/vegans (veg’ans) and omnivores.  The article discusses a recent and very thought provoking study published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE), The Brain Functional Networks Associated to Human and Animal Suffering Differ among Omnivores.  You should seriously check out the study.  Or at least the article.  But I’m more into the hard scientific details and correlations, so I was thrilled to be able to read the study.

      The basic finding here is – not at all surprisingly, in my opinion – people who refrain from eating flesh for ethical reasons seem to have much more empathy than those who eat meat.  And this isn’t a touchy-feely fill out this survey and tell us how much you like animals thing; subjects of the study were placed in a fMRI machine and shown various images, to include images of humans and animals suffering.  The areas of their brains that responded and the degree of the activity in these areas was then measured and quantified.

      Has anyone noticed that I have a *slight* addiction to research studies?  I probably read an average of 50 studies, articles about studies, or results summaries (on all sorts of topics) every week – no exaggeration.  And the number was much higher when I had more free time (and didn’t blog . ..).  I love studies.  I know – I am, in the truest sense of the word, a complete and utter dork.

      You can check out the study or the article for more detailed discussion of the various brain structures affected and the functioning behind them.  While I love that sort of stuff, I recognize that most people don’t really care much whether it was the Anterior Cingular Cortex that lit up or the Medulla Oblongata (it was the former, by the way).

      The long and short of it is that when vegetarians/vegans who refrained from eating flesh based on ethics were shown images of animal and human suffering, they exhibited responses in a NUMBER of brain regions associated with empathy, higher-order representations of the self and values, and bodily representation that were not found in omnivores.

      VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:  Neither this study, nor I, in any way imply that omnivores are lacking in empathy or are in any way cold and heartless.  The study simply demonstrates that ethical veg’ans have more empathy.  So I don’t want any angry comments from the omnivores out there thinking I’m trying to malign anyone.

      Empathy is an extremely important human emotion.  It is an integral key to societal functioning, successful interpersonal relationships, and human happiness.  I’m not exaggerating.  Empathy – The ability to put oneself into the mental shoes of another person to understand her emotions and feelings (Alvin Goldman) – is the absolute foundation of true kindness.  Those truly sick, cruel individuals among us and throughout history were the ones lacking in empathy (or able to dehumanize others to a degree where they could deactivate empathy, but the same idea).

      If you can’t tell, I feel very strongly about empathy.  I did well before I read this article.  I have always felt strongly about “The Golden Rule,” which is found in most world religions, and I think empathy is the key to being a good friend, parent, wife, and human being.  I am empathetic to a fault (if that’s possible).

      I’m not saying veg’ans are better people (even though I know it sounds like it).  But I’m not at all surprised by this study, either.  There are people out there that can watch movies like Food, Inc. or see images or videos like the one below and three hours later are scarfing bacon or digging into a bucket of chicken.  I can’t do that.  It has gotten to a point where watching other people eat factory farmed meat upsets me.  In that particular area, I have much more empathy than probably most people.  But I’m sure there are other areas where people have me totally outstripped.  As we all know, I have much less empathy for adulterers (granted, I actually do have some; I’m more talk and ranting than anything else on that, but still – I have a heck of a lot more empathy for poor farm animals than people who take vows then refuse to keep it in their pants).

      So what’s my point?  Interesting facts.  Interesting study.  Something to think about.  No real point to speak of.  I’m not trying to say veg’ans are better or trying to talk people into changing their ways.  I simply found this study enlightening and pertinent to stuff I ramble about on this blog. 

      Ok, so maybe I’m trying to change your behavior a little.  Seriously, how can anyone watch something like this and still eat factory farmed meat?  Or refuse to watch it because they don’t want to feel guilty about eating said meat?  By the way, this is where the SCHOOL LUNCH MEAT comes from:

      Yes, these videos are graphic.  Watching them makes me want to simultaneously vomit and cry.  But, damnit, it’s better to watch it and make a change than to refuse to recognize that you contribute to this every single time you eat meat, eggs, or dairy produced by these animals.  And for most US Americans that is EVERY MEAL OF THE EFFING DAY.

      You don’t need “more empathy” to want to make this stop.

      And, oh by the way, people who commit violent acts toward animals JUST LIKE THIS, are exponentially more likely to commit violent acts against other humans, particularly children.  Think maybe we should try to put them out of business?

On Top

      MacGyver and I have been planning our next wedding since we started planning our first.  The summer we got married I had just graduated Law School and taken the Bar exam, and we were getting ready to move from NYC to Virginia because I was coming on Active Duty.  We were pretty frigging broke.  We should have eloped or done a real small court house thing, probably.  But I wanted a wedding, damn it.  You only get married once (theoretically, whatever - you know what I mean - I will only get married once), and I wanted to share the occasion with family and friends.  And I wanted the Party.  And, to be perfectly honest, I wanted the dress.  I'm not a particularly girly-girl, but I love really dressy dresses.  And what is more dressy than a wedding dress?  I wasn't about to be gracing the red carpet any time soon.

      So we had a wedding, and it was AMAZING.  It goes down in the anals of history as one of the most fun weddings ever.  Certainly in my town (not to mention by far the most diverse event ever to take place in my town - the wedding party alone was composed of more races, ethnicities, and orientations than can be found in a 50 mile radius of my town).  No exaggeration at all, people STILL mention how awesome our wedding was to me, in all its torential monsoon glory.  Check it out.

      But we had to do it on the cheap.  We scratched together ever cent we had, every ounce of credit, every favor we could scrounge, and we did the whole thing - dress, rings, ceremony, reception AND the Honeymoon - for under 10k.  Sure, it made things tight for months after that.  But it was soooo very worth it.  And we didn't skimp on the dress, rings, and honeymoon, let me tell you.

      MacGyver and I made the cake ourselves himself.  It was a 6 tiered, 6 flavored cheesecake.  We decorated the fondant with an amazing baroque vine pattern - green and brown (the wedding colors).  In the end, the bottom layer didn't set up, which was really sad, and really bothered MacGyver (he's looking forward to the opportunity to correct that at the next wedding), but the day after the wedding the bride'smaids dug into it (it was amaretto cherry flavored), and I'm told it was spectacular.

      The one thing that really sucks about the cake?  That really saddens me and makes me that much more determined to have the next wedding in a couple years?  We don't have a single picture of the cake.  Not one.  A friend has two pictures that have the disassembled cake in the background, but there isn't a one of the cake put together.  Not a one of the cake with the hilarious cake toppers we got. 

      Yes, we got two different cake toppers.  We couldn't choose.  So we put one on the very top, and the other two on lower levels.  Tell me these aren't the best cake toppers you've ever seen:

Top of the cake.

Lower levels.

(I took these pictures in the morning before work, forgive the cruddy quality)

      At the next wedding (we're thinking 2013 - but I don't want to wait that long!), I will be sure to get tons of pictures of them.  That is, if we go with them.  I'm also toying with the idea of using action figures - Xena and MacGyver.  What do you think?  In the meantime, these toppers are on display in our kitchen next to the etched champagne flutes.  Can you find them in this post?

      What do you all think of Re-Weddings/Vow renewals/whatever?  Do you think all 6 layers of the cake should be cheesecake next time?  I was thinking 3 layers of cheesecake, and three layers of other stuff, but MacGyver wants all cheesecake.  Xena and MacGyver or the cake toppers pictured above?  Anything else you want to weigh in on for the [re]wedding?

Don't Call Me Skinny

I am a US American woman – therefore, I have issues with my weight.

I believe there are 6 or 7 women in the US who don’t have issues with their weight or body image.  If you’re one of them, I’d love to talk to you.  I probably won’t believe you, but I’m open to persuasion.

My weight issues are two-fold:  The first issue surrounds keeping my weight where I want it.  The second issue involves the way other people react to my weight.

I hear it all the time:  “You’re soooo skinny.”  “You can’t understand how hard it is to struggle with weight.”  “It must be nice to be able to eat whatever you want and not gain a pound.”

You know what?  Screw you.

Assuming that I don’t have to work to stay in shape is just as bad as assuming someone is overweight because they’re lazy.

Get me?

Because, let me tell you, it doesn’t take much at all for me to balloon up.  If I don’t exercise and watch what I eat all the time I can pack on 20 pounds in 2 months without blinking.  I can think of two times in the past 10 years or so when, for various reasons (not pregnancy), I wasn’t really able to exercise and the way I ate was far from ideal.  And both those times?  I plumped up like a factory farmed turkey with a tube down its throat.  Bang.  And 20 pounds on my frame shows.

Because I do have a small frame.  I’m not denying that genetics plays a role.  Of course it does.  I am certain it is easier for me than for others to stay thin.  Both of my parents are very thin.  But you know what?  They both work their asses off every single day.

But genetics isn’t everything, and it’s not the only reason that I’m thin.  Did you notice that when I was pregnant I didn’t post my weight a single time?  I’ll give you once guess as to why that was.

Because I gained a LOT of weight, and I gained it fast.  I was straight up, uncontrollably hungry.  Like, so desperately hungry that I had to eat RIGHT THEN, as much and as fast as I could to such a degree that I think I actually bit my own finger a couple times.  It was crazy.  And MacGyver was so terrified I was going to damage the fetus working out that for months he wouldn’t let me get my heart rate up above 160 (though I did cheat a few times – I NEEDED the exercise).  Sooooo I gained.  Remember this:

6 Weeks

20 Weeks

30 Weeks

39 Weeks and 6 days - and In Labor!

40 Weeks

Yeah.  So it annoys me when people imply that maintaining my weight doesn’t take effort.  Why don’t you just call me lazy and spoiled?  It would be more to the point.

I’m thin because I run (and I mean full out, lung burning, painful RUN) a minimum of 9 miles a week.  Often times much more.  And I do all manner of strength work, mostly abs and arms.

I’m thin because I am VERY careful about what I eat.  The Ethical Eating journey has been amazing for this, but even before I was extremely focused on eating mainly veggies and only high-fiber whole grains.  And that doesn’t just mean I get tomato on my burger and eat iceburg lettuce salads.  No.  First of all, I try to eat veggies at every meal, including breakfast.  Sure, there are a lot of mornings when I just eat steel cut oatmeal instead, but I eat veggies at breakfast at least a couple times a week.  And I eat real veggies.  Spinach, Kale, broccoli.  And a variety.  Did you know that 70% of all US American calories come from four foods?  Four.  That is effing ridiculous.  And, from an anthropological (and medical, but I’m not really qualified to comment on the medical standpoint) standpoint very unhealthy.  So I eat a variety of veggies and other foods.  Eating seasonally really helps with that.  Yes, I still eat a lot of wheat, but I also eat a whole heck of a lot of non-wheat whole grains (quinoa, black, red, and brown rice . . .). 

And I READ about nutrition and food.  Our culture has gone so far from eating a rational, healthy, veggie focused, varied diet that you have to research it yourself.

My mother in law has been staying with us for 2 weeks, and has lost 15lbs thanks to the way we eat.  And she’s been cheating at night – and doesn’t think I know about it.

Long and short: I work out and I eat VERY well.  And if I don’t, I gain weight.  So forgive me if I look like I’m trying to refrain from smacking you when you say I can eat whatever I want and stay thin.  Because, trust me, I have been wanting a big, cheesy, greasy pizza for weeks now, but I’m not eating it.

So sometimes, I get offended by the things people say about my weight.  Then there are other times when I know the person commenting has good intentions.  Usually, they’re trying to compliment me by saying how thin I am.  And, sure, I’m flattered.  I mean, I really like my figure.  But these compliments are a little uncomfortable to deal with.  I’m not 100% sure why.  I mean, if you tell me you like my hair or I performed well in court, I will graciously and happily thank you.  But for some reason it feels really wrong to thank someone for calling me thin.  It’s like admitting that I’m thin makes me conceited.  I dunno. 

So, I’ve talked about how I have had to work in the past to avoid gaining weight.  Well, now I’m facing a different problem I never thought I would.

At 5’5” (or 6”) I consider 118lbs to be my ideal weight.  It’s rather arbitrary.  It’s just the weight I stayed at rather consistently when I was in high school (I once read a study that said people who maintain their high school weight throughout life live longer, and stay healthier).  A couple years ago I was being required to PT too hard and too often (I was the only female in my unit), and I dropped to 115lbs.  MacGyver said that I was much too thin, and I started to get sick more often.  So, I decided that 115 was too thin for me.  I eventually worked up the courage to tell the higher ups that I couldn’t PT like that anymore, and things got much better.  Except I didn’t gain the weight back. 

I stayed at 115 for a couple years (luckily, my body shape did go back to normal, and MacGyver confirmed that I was no longer too skinny).  Then I went to TBS which was very physically demanding, but also required horrible eating habits.  So I went up to 119 – at which point I got pregnant. 

Well, it didn’t take me too long to get back down to 118 after Flintstone was born.  Breastfeeding and vegetarianism (because Ethical Eating makes me a vegetarian the vast majority of the time) made it super easy.  Training for my next PFT didn’t hurt, either.

Lately, though, I’ve felt like I was eating all the time.  Still my regular diet (though I may have snuck a few Girl Scout cookies here and there), just more of it.  So, this weekend I hopped on the scale to see just how much damage my uncontrollable eating has done.

I stared at the scale, confused.  I hopped off and hopped back on. 

Same thing.

I called MacGyver over.  “Is the scale broken?”

He weighed himself. “Nope, not broken.”

I weigh 112lbs.

“Do I look sickeningly thin to you?”  I asked him.

“No, you look even better than you did at 115.”

Ok, so I suppose I’m okay with this.  I’m extremely healthy.  I’m eating like a pig.  I’m not bony or sickly or shapeless (actually I love my butt-waist-boobs shape more now than I ever have).  So I guess 112 is ok.

Except it’s not.

Because I have my annual weigh in (a Marine requirement) in a week or so.  And I am below the minimum weight for my height.  If you’re above weight, they put you on BCP, Body Composition Program, and make you work out and stuff.  I have no idea what they do if you fall below.  I’ve weighed in below standards before, but they just remeasured my height and I was magically an inch taller . . .

I also have a somewhat distorted body image.  Apparently I am not just thin.  Apparently I am very thin.  But I don’t see it.  Honestly.  I absolutely do not see myself as any thinner than most of my friends.  The other day, I good friend of mine let me borrow an outfit because we were going out to lunch and I didn’t have civilian clothes in my office.  I was so sure she was the same size as me, easily.  I was so wrong.  She is thin and fit and healthy.  And her clothes were falling off of me.

So, I have issues.  All sorts of issues with my weight.  With gaining, with loosing, with perception.  Everything.  Because I am a US American woman.  And that’s just the way it is.

So don’t call me skinny.

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Apr 8, 2011 9:10 AM

Home Improvement

Remember that show?  Man, I loved that show when it was on.  And I was soooo in love with Jonathan Taylor Thomas*.  My friends and I used to go buy any TeenBeat/TigerBeat/whatever that had him on the cover, then buy some other magazine to hide it in because we were completely ashamed.  Hilarious.

This post is not about that.  But there are certainly some similarities.

Yet another less than entertaining post.  Bite me.  This is MY blog, and I will ramble inanely about the banalities of our life if I so choose.  And all my followers will leave me and I will cry.  Maybe I’ll have time to write a “real” post later today.  If the Earth’s rotation suddenly slows down and a few extra hours spring out of nowhere.

Remember when we bought our house? (Pictures).  And then when we spent all the time decorating it just perfect?  We painted the bedroom a beautiful, deep red, the master bath a dark slate gray with stone detailing on the countertops and trim – I WISH I had pictures of it, and MacGyver did the kitchen in an unbelievable Tuscan theme – warm textured yellow/gold walls and tile countertops.  And then remember when the Marines moved us 9 hours away from that house?

Well, we’ve been renting it out since then, which hasn’t been all that bad.  At the very least because of its location we haven’t had any trouble at all renting it out.  Actually, we have people competing (offering more rent, free repair services, etc) for it.  But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any headaches.

MacGyver has had to drive up periodically to make repairs.  The last time he went up, he called me really pissed off.  The tenants apparently didn’t understand the difference between renting and owning nor did they seem to understand our very clear stipulations about which rooms they were and were not allowed to modify.  The wife painted our beautiful dark stone master bathroom light pastel blue.  Choke me.  She even painted the countertops!!!!  WTF?  Who paints countertops?  Who paints textured countertops?  They also took out our compost area.  Seriously?  We told them to put the bathroom back the way it was, or it would come out of the security deposit.

Then, in Nov, a pipe burst.  This kind of damage is covered by our homeowners insurance, so we didn’t think it would be much of an issue.  Wow, were we wrong.  To start, we had to fire the first contractor company because MacGyver caught them lying to us.  The next contractor had a psychiatric break and barricaded himself in his house holding his family hostage.  Yeah.  And those were just the beginning of the problems.  It was one thing after another after another after another.  It was unbelievable.  I won’t even try to give a timeline or cover all the effing craziness with this thing, but some of the highlights:

- An incompetent liaison at the insurance company who was SO hard to get a hold of and waited weeks before returning calls
-  The original contractor we had to fire did the water mitigation improperly which ruined the counters in the kitchen and caused a mold issue.
-  Due to mold and the heat going out (related to the water damage), we allowed the tenants to terminate the lease early and had to fight with the insurance  company to cover the rent even though it was clearly covered in our policy.
-  At least 10 different adjusters and other kinds of “experts” have had to be called in by us and the insurance company while we battled all the details out for getting all the water damage repaired as well as the damage the insurance company’s contractor caused.

And that’s just a sampling of it.  MacGyver has had to go up a couple times to deal with this crap, and it is getting old fast.  MacGyver has been AMAZING in dealing with it, though.  Seriously, all the phone time and paperwork required has been nuts and he has been spending SO MUCH TIME taking care of it.  I owe him something HUGE after all this (any suggestions?).

So, more than a week ago, MacGyver went up again to make a couple repairs unrelated to the damage before our new tenants move in.  And the final repair work from the burst pipe was just starting.  The pipe burst IN NOVEMBER!!!  The work was finished in APRIL.   FIVE MONTHS!  Frig.  But it’s done.  And we got to pick out beautiful new floors, countertops, carpet, etc.

So, MacGyver went to VA.  He was supposed to be there for 3 or 4 days.  He was supposed to come with me to Atlanta.  But things in my life so rarely go the way they’re supposed to, and those effects also spread to affect MacGyver.  So he got busy.  He did a billion things.  Seriously, he is the most productive person I know.  But he pushes himself too hard.  And he ended up in the emergency room because he passed out in a store.

Remember last April Fool’s Day?  You know, last time MacGyver was in the ER?  I am going to start chaining him to the bed at the end of March from now on.

Even better?  The butt didn’t even TELL me he was in the ER until two days later!  Needless to say, I can’t get him home soon enough and am going out of my mind with worry.  He was on his way home last night.  He texted me at 4 am to say that he had stopped to take a nap. 

I didn’t get the text because my phone was on silent, but, incidentally, Flintstone thought that would be a great time to wake up.  I was roused by little baby noises and something bumping insistently against my side.  I open my eyes to see a happy little chubby face smiling away, and up in crawling position – ready to party and move.  He’s been scooting and semi-crawling for a while now, but he’s just started really mastering it, and apparently 4am is a good time to practice.  And while I am a sleep whore, I can’t miss an opportunity to play with the little guy, so I was up and playing until he fell back asleep – 20 minutes before my alarm.  Cute.

Anyway, MacGyver should be home by now, but I haven’t heard from him.  I’m sure he fell right into bed.  I also can’t get a hold of my mother in law, who is still with us and has extended her stay by another week so she can lecture me on the evils of contraceptives and seatbelts and bitch about my cooking some more.  So that’s nice.

Anyway, I just wanted to get the house nonsense down now that it seems to be coming to a close.  Trust me, this is much better than if I had given you all a running commentary on this ridiculousness.

* I will now waste half my afternoon trying to determine where he is now and if he’s still hot . . . . . . Aaaaaannnd – apparently he is gay?  I can’t tell for sure.  Could just be internet rumors.  But I guess I wouldn’t be surprised.  After all, Lance Bass was by far my favorite member of *NSync, so it would fit with a trend for me ;-)  (Also, there are a bunch of idiots on the IMDB message board saying he couldn’t be gay because he’s a really solid guy, really smart, etc.  What the hell does any of that have to do with sexual orientation?  Jackasses.)