Minerva has gone Worldwide!!!

It's official. Minerva is making it around the world. This cast is called the ss Minerva Cast. And look at how minerva it looks? It was obviously named that for a reason, IT'S MINERVA!!!!

Good Mornin' Y'all

We're Tired Y'all

Total Eclipse of the Heart

vBlog 2.33

Ivey & Steve vBlog v1.0

We actually did it. And it only took one try!!!

Just 2 more days!!!!

I feel I often over use the term "bestfriend". I have 4 people in my life that I use these words with regularly. There have a been a few times when I've been called out for having too many best friends. Doesn't "best" mean one? Ok by definition I'm not using the word correctly but these 4 people will always hold a special place in my life and I feel are worthy of being called "bests". If they have a problem sharing the title they can take it up amongst each other. It'd be an interesting battle. So while I have four bests i only have one Grace in my life. I think every gay man has that one woman in his life that he puts up on a pedestal above all other women in the world. The girl who understands him and who he can share his darkest secrets with. This woman to me is Jennifer Ivey. Yes she is the girl pictured above and yes she will kill me when she's see's the picture I have chosen to post. This picture was taken on February 4, 1999 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I will give photo credit to Ms. Shirley Ivey. I have no clue what we are drinking but I can assure you that we are WASTED. Moments later I think i was holding Ivey's hair back while she was throwing up in the bathroom.

So kill me Ivey Jo. But you gave me attitude that there was no mention of your arrival. Now there is mention....a picture....and here goes the announcement......WE WILL BE DOING A DAILY VIDEO BLOG WHILE SHE IS HERE so stay tuned!!!!

And let's go back to the picture above. Does it look like she's wearing a strippers coat? What's up with that?

Love you girl! See you in two days!
Chill

We Survived!!!

So I have to say this weekend was an amazing one and quite adventurous. I had planned a 25 mile trip down the lower wisconsin river over 2 days. The boy and I both woke up with a cold and I decided that instead of leaving at the crack of dawn....we should sleep in so that we were better rested for day 1. We left land around 4pm and headed downstream. With the late start and a leisurely pace we only traveled about 7 miles on day one. We set up camp on an island in the middle of the river and had about 60 minutes from our arrival on the island until sun down. We worked very well as a team...the tent was up and the fuel for the fire was collected all before sun-down. We built the fire, made chicken tortellini (sp?) and laid under the stars with our cocktails until we finally moved into the tent for a nights sleep.

This is where the fun began. I was raised camping on the Missouri river and am quite aware that the river level can rise quite quickly with rain upstream. To our knowledge there was no rain North of us. When I unzipped the front of our tent I noticed that the island we were on had changed drastically. THANK GOD we moved our tent to a better spot before we settled. Or we would have slept underwater. Our kayaks were beach bound when we went to bed. WERE beach bound. One of the kayaks was gone and the other was barely stuck in shallow water. I grabbed a life jacket, water through the water to the kayak and took off downstream while the P built a fire. Surprisingly I found the other kayak about a mile or so down stream, tied it to my boat and paddled upstream. Paddling upstream sucks...especially against the wind with a 2nd boat tied on. Luckily the fire was started, we made some oatmeal, packed back up and headed downstream. Our total trip was about 14.5 miles. We'll be back to do a 25'er and then the 90 mile trip to the Mississippi River.

We got back to chicago about 30 minutes before the Mika concert we had planned on attending for his birthday. We unloaded the jeep, changed as fast as possible, and arrived at the concert smelling like dirty river water. the concert was amazing!!!

Camping with Rhode Island...not IN Rhode Island

So I'm headed to Rhode Island for a 24 mile kayaking/camping trip. We should be back Monday night. If I end up missing one of us has killed each other. Sauk City here we come! Here's to hoping it's an amazing weekend!!!

Happy May Day!

So I grew up always looking forward to May 1st, what my family knew and celebrated as May Day. While a lot of the country celebrates this holiday with a May Pole we always followed the tradition of making May Baskets for our neighbors. My mother and I would always go to the grocery store together to purchase a bunch of strawberries (so we could use the little green baskets for our base), pipe cleaners (the handle to the basket), and then a bunch of various candies to fill each basket. While I always loved making our May Day Baskets (most of the neighbor’s used Dixie Cups), my favorite part of the tradition was delivering the baskets. The tradition is that you are to try to deliver the baskets without getting caught. We'd ring our neighbors bell, leave the basket, and RUN!!! If you got caught they'd have to kiss you.

So i'm curious....has anyone out there ever heard of this tradition? When I moved to the south for college people thought I was crazy...and i've yet to see this happen in chicago. I looked the Holiday up on Wikipedia and was happy to see that this is a recognized tradition that's unfortunately been fading since the 20th century. SEE BELOW...and please leave comments to tell me how you celebrated the holiday.

WIKIPEDIA:
May Day is May 1, and refers to any of several holidays celebrated on this day. May 1 was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures, and many elements of these holidays are still celebrated on May 1 today, such as the Maypole. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer: hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was "midsummer."

In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, Mary's head (in works of art, school skits, etc.) will often be adorned with flowers. Another May Day tradition (fading in popularity since the late 20th century) is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of candy and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps.

My Get-A-Way to Denver

Here I sit on one of the bumpiest plane rides I’ve been on in a long while in route from Denver back to Chicago. My former roommate Rich flew me out on miles, so sweet, so that I could come visit him and his boyfriend. I could not have asked for a better trip. It was very low-key and relaxing which is exactly what I needed. I had met his boyfriend, Brian, on several occasions but always briefly so I didn’t really know the guy very well upon arrival. He was gracious enough to change his work schedule so that he could pick me up from the airport and then he and I spent my first few hours in Colorado together as Rich was still at work. I can confidently say after getting to know him better that he is SUCH A SWEET GUY and perfect for Rich. I am so happy they found each other. I also met several of their friends as we had people over for dinner last night…all good people.
I would have to say that the highlight of my trip was Rich and my adventure to the Red Rocks. Our hike was a light one that lasted just a couple of hours as we spent our time hiking in and around the Red Rock’s Amphitheatre. It was AWESOME! It was a sight that I have always wanted to see as so many bands I love talk so highly of the space. Now, I just need to find a way to see someone like Dave Matthews, David Gray or Keane there. It’d be pure bliss. Rich and I got a little camera happy and took about 160 pictures between the two of us. You can click on the album cover at the top right corner of my page to view a portion of them. Enjoy!

The Affair

Today I Feel Pretty!

Ok, so maybe I don't look pretty in the picture above and we know Aaron certainly does not, but I felt this picture best fits the mood I am in at the moment. I left work early last night as we were overstaffed and not busy. I know this is a stupid thing to do as I only have 3 shifts left before we close the door for good. But when I made the decision to leave I promised myself that I would do something good for myself after I got home. And that I did...i got all dressed up and ready to go for a jog on the lakefront. As I was walking out the door the boy called so he ended up joining me.

Chicago is AMAZING. It's kinda hard to believe that in a city this size, you can find such an awesome escape. He and I walked to the lake from his house in Uptown and then jogged towards downtown, sat on the waterfront for a short while and then jogged back home. It's really hard to believe, but we did not come in-contact with ANY PEOPLE the entire run down the lakefront. We did however see 4 raccoons', a few duck and several rodents. An incredibly peaceful and romantic jaunt. (I know you're all puking right now..sorry) We woke up this morning, made breakfast and then I took off to get some stuff done for myself. And on top of all of this, it's finally sunny and mild outside which makes me feel pretty. Oh so pretty!

vBlog 17April07

Ross the Intern w/Steve the Croc Hunter

This has got to be one of the funniest video's I have EVER seen on YOUTube. My face hurts from laughing so much!

I am in LOVE with this woman!!!

Alanis Morissette "My Humps" video parody

This is freakin' hilarious!!!

What Does "Minerva" Mean???

So i got a comment from an anonymous person asking.....what does "minerva" mean. Will this person please email me or give me there contact info....i'd love to chat.

vBlog 12Apr07

I swear I didn't mean to say "Ladies and Gentleman" so many times....if I could I would re-record...but that would take the fun out of it. I just pushed record and talked....trying to recreate would take away from the freeness of my thoughts.

Minerva Snow

This is what I just woke up to. MInerva.

A Little Easter Cheer!