I’ve just upgraded my site to Expression Engine 1.6.7.

At my previous employer, I worked with a very wise woman. Before any company function where alcohol was being served, she’d always tell her staff “Have a good time, and don’t be the story.” What she meant was that one shouldn’t drink so much and do stupid things so that this behavior was what people were talking about the next day. I have to admit that I was the story a few times, and I finally caught on to what she was talking about.

Tonight was my company’s winter holiday party. I certainly won’t be the story, but my boss just might be. Okay, a few people might have noticed that I left early with an attractive gay coworker. I’m okay with that being a story. The REAL story there is that we left the Roxy and went to Fritz, the gay sports bar down the street. As far as others who might be the story, I’m sure I’ll hear all about it in the morning.

I hate the word Fabulous. The gay community uses it entirely way too frequently. There are times when it’s the only word that’s appropriate, and this is one of them. I made the most fabulous cocktail with meyer lemons. However, you could certainly do the same with conventional lemons.

First, I made a lemon-infused simple syrup by combining three cups of sugar, two cups of water, and the zest of three lemons in a small sauce pan and then cooking over medium heat until the sugar dissolved. Then I removed the zest and allowed the syrup to cool. You could use a zester or microplane to zest the lemons, but in this case, a vegetable peeler worked much better since I had to fish the zest out of the syrup.

Next, in a cocktail shaker full of ice, I added some vodka, about a half cup of the simple syrup, and the juice of the three lemons I zested earlier. I shook and served.

This went down incredibly smoothly. And it was SO good, yet it wasn’t overly sweet. You might need to play with the proportions, but the basics are there.

I’m not one who is big into footwear, especially boots. But something bit me in the ass to go buy a new pair of boots recently. Normally, I wear the hiking boots I’ve owned for something like ten years. This time, I went WAY different. These are more like engineer boots. My friend Seth and I went to Berks in Cambridge and I bought a pair of Road Wolf High Rider Black boots.

I wore them today for the first time. When you’re used to wearing tennis shoes around the office, these have some heft to them. And damn! They look good.

In other news, I went to see a doctor today and had her tell me what I already knew: I’ve got a cold and that I should drink plenty of fluids, get rest, and let it pass. She did give me some industrial strength cough syrup, and if I have a fever tomorrow, she wants me to start taking antibiotics.

Before I moved into my condo, the first thing I did was seal up the bathroom. Knowing that I have a Pug who likes to go potty on the bathroom floor, I sealed all of the tile grout with a sealant. And then I caulked around the tub. That was a very wise move.

Lately I’ve been seeing some mildew around the caulking, so I attacked it tonight with a grout brush. It turns out some of the mildew was behind the caulking, so I pulled it out. What I found wasn’t pretty.

The good news is that I really only need to replace about six inches of baseboard. In theory, this should be quick, cheap, and easy to fix. I’ll just let my landlord know, and she’ll be fine with that. I figure it’ll cost less than $20 to fix it, most of that being white paint. In the meantime, this is what I did.

By the way, that caulking will dry clear. It’s the same stuff I used when I moved in, and you can’t even see the rest of the caulking around the tub.

I feel so butch and manly now.

One of the most powerful memories I have so far in my time with the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus is my first rehearsal. At the end of the first rehearsal with new members, the new members are brought to the front of the room where our director usually stands. The new members are facing the rest of the chorus, and the chorus sings Fred Small’s Everything Possible to them. It was such a powerful moment for me, and it’s something I’ll never forget.

At last week’s rehearsal, we had about 20 men attending who would be auditioning for the chorus tonight. They were given an opportunity to see what one of our rehearsals were like. Wednesday night will be the first rehearsal as a new member for anybody who made it through their audition with our director.

Wednesday night will be my first opportunity to sing Everything Possible with the chorus, and I’m excited about that. It’s my turn to welcome men into the group that so graciously welcomed me four months ago.

You can be anybody you want to be,
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know I will love you still
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you’re done.

It’s a cold wintry Sunday, so what do I do? I make soup!

We knew that a snowstorm was approaching, so I went shopping yesterday for ingredients. I made my own version of a corn chowder. I’m not sure how close to the classic it is, but damn, it’s good.

After this morning’s brunch, I saved the bacon fat. I used that to sweat an onion, four carrots, and about six or seven Yukon Gold potatoes. Then I tossed in about a cup of flour to thicken it. That cooked for a few minutes before I threw in two quarts of homemade chicken (or turkey) stock. (They weren’t very well labeled in my freezer.) I let that simmer a while until the poatoes were tender. Then I added a bunch of cheese that I shredded, probably about two cups. (There was no science here, just what I had left, including some white cheddar, yellow cheddar, jack, and gruyere.) Next I hit it with a splash of milk and then two bags of frozen corn.

This wasn’t science at all, just a good Sunday afternoon cooking in my kitchen.

When it comes to cooking, I’m my own worst critic. It’s hard for me to be impressed by much. This morning was an exception. We were doing our typical weekend brunch with the guys who live upstairs. Frequently, I’ll make bananas foster pancakes. Nothing is better than bananas sauteed in butter, brown sugar, and some rum. But today, I wanted to do something a little lighter, so I made a blueberry saunce. And it couldn’t have been easier.

In a small sauce pan, I combined a half pint of blueberries (I used fresh, but frozen would work just as well), about a third of a cup of sugar ,the zest and juice of one lemon. And I let that simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring often. It reduced and thickened beautifully, and it was fabulous on top of pancakes.

So the grinning picture of Buddy isn’t my most popular picture on Flickr. This one is…

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that.  Bah. I suck at Dance Dance Revolution.

Number five on the list is one of my all time favorites.

I’ll be writing more about this in the near future, but I’m starting my fund raising efforts for the 2009 Boston MS Walk.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/mike.hillwig

Please give what you can!