August 20 - 25, 2007 :: A Week in the ATL

For my end-of-the-trimester vacation in August, I decided to take a trip back to Atlanta for the week to visit Frank (my brother) and Franco (my "fourth" brother). I also planned on visiting other friends that I didn't get to see when I breezed through Atlanta a month prior. The original plan was to arrive first thing in the morning on Mon the 20th and go back to Albany on Fri the 24th at night. That would maximize my time there and amount of potential fun to be had. Little did I know when I made these ticket plans that both the start and end dates/times would change...

Monday: A quick swing through Stamford (CT) on the way...
About two weeks prior to leaving, I was having a discussion with the HR manager for the program I'm involved in at work. She and I were planning a new module for our employee orientation sessions. This "Diversity Panel" would introduce the various employee groups for special interest groups such as African Americans, Women, Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transgender/Straight Allies, and Parents/Spouses/Partners of Auditors. This would also be the first time that the GLBTA group was introduced publicly to a group of people within our audit staff. Since I was representing this group and it was a monumental milestone in its development, I had to be there for it. Unfortunately (and in many ways it was also fortunately) the only time we could fit it in was Mon from 5-6p EST. I told her that I would change my travel plans for vacation to leave from New York City (instead of Albany) on the last flight out to Atlanta so I could attend. After a quick, and pleasantly surprising discussion with the travel agent, I was rebooked to leave from La Guardia on the last Delta flight to Atlanta and I didn't even have to pay neither a change fee nor difference in fare!

The Diversity Panel was an amazing success! I was incredibly nervous and scared...I felt very exposed. But after I became a little more comfortable, thanks to the incredible open-armed acceptance of my peers and upper managers who were also on the Panel, I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the experience. I fielded a couple questions from the new employees after describing what our group was and its history. I could definitely start to feel a turn in the tide for the GLBT "secret". Hopefully this will grow and people will not be afraid and feel like they have to hide. As my friend J.E. says, "baby steps, but always in the right direction."

I left Stamford earlier than expected and arrived in La Guardia two hours early. The friendly Delta agent at the Medallion Members' Service Desk was able to put me on a flight one hour earlier to Atlanta, and still didn't charge me for the change. Being newly inducted into the Silver Elite club with Delta, I was starting to love the change in status. Even with this bump up in flights, I ended up arriving in Atlanta at almost the same time I was supposed to originally due to traffic trying to get out of the airport. It's a good thing I got the hour earlier flight, otherwise I wouldn't have arrived in Atlanta until Tues morning!

"Super" Franco (he was wearing a Superman™ t-shirt) picked me up at 11p from the Atlanta airport and we went straight to Burkharts in Midtown Atlanta where they were having karaoke. Friends Colleen, Mathew, and Scott met us there. By the time they arrived, though, I was already three sheets to the wind in celebration of a great day, successful Panel, and arrival into ATL for vacation. I still sang, though, of course...the song was "Hanging By a Moment" by Lifehouse. I like to think that I performed the song instead of just singing it. The crowd went wild when I was done. It was a good feeling :)

Tuesday: Adventures with the help desk...
My brother, Frank, worked from home on Tues so we got to hang out for most of it at his place. My BlackBerry® had been on the fritz for a while, though, so I took the opportunity to clear up some other unnecessary things with work (travel & living expenses, etc) and then called our help desk in order to get this thing straightened out once and for all. Several hours, yes, hours later, we had finally gotten everything worked out and I was free to get the heck outside for a while. I took a walk over to Quattro on Piedmont Rd in Midtown where Mathew was working as a bartender and Scott was enjoying a later summer afternoon Bloody Mary. I hung out with those guys for a brief while and then headed back to meet my brother for dinner. We were going to a restaurant called Cowtippers with Frank's friend, Rachel (who he should be dating and live happily ever after with!). Her roommate, Sasha works there and the two of them wanted the two of us to meet each other. I think this was the first time in history that Frank tried to help me meet someone. It was nice. Haha :) Sasha was cool but it was hard to meet him while he was working. After dinner, Franco and I went to Burkharts to meet up with the others again for Family Feud night. Unfortunately Sasha didn't get off from work until late and didn't get to meet us, but we had fun playing the game at the bar and singing some more karaoke (this time I sang "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down). This day & night were much more low key than Mon night...I didn't end up drinking nearly as much, but we still didn't end up home till almost 1a.

Wednesday: Early morning pictures and afternoon sunning...
On Wed, I got up fairly early in the morning, enjoyed this week's episode of "Kyle XY" via ABC Family's website (I love the Internet), worked out, and then headed to Piedmont Park to take some pictures. I didn't take any pictures of Atlanta when I lived there, so I figured why not take them now that I was an official tourist :) I started by going around Frank's condominium complex first, taking pictures of some of the more beautiful parts of it, before heading over to the Park. It was already over 90°'s F outside, but dedicated as I was, I walked a circuit through the entire park stopping to take pictures here and there, battling the blindingly bright sun with various camera setting adjustments so I could get some good shots that weren't all washed out. An hour or two later I returned to Frank's apartment to drop off my camera, pick up a coupon for the restaurant Front Page News, and head back out to the hot hot streets to meet my friend Peter for lunch. To view the photos, check out http://pictures.brooksny.net

Lunch with Peter was great. We got to catch up on goings on at work and with the local chapter of the GLBT Alliance there in Atlanta. Peter and I were co-founders of the Atlanta Hub and we ran the group together while I was still living down there. Unfortunately he told me that a lot of the activity had slowed with the Hub, but I was at least happy to hear that some things were going on still with them. I guess I pushed it all along while I was there...that made me feel proud of myself at least...I made a difference while I was there. Now I'm trying to bring that energy to a much more difficult environment, but with tenacity and drive we will get there.

After lunch I went back to Frank's place and met up with Franco. I drove him to school and then took a ride uptown to visit Mathew. We got an ice cream from the Marble Slab Creamery and hung out at his place in the Biltmore before I had to go retrieve Franco from Georgia State University. Franco and I decided to take advantage of the oasis that is my brother's condo complex pool before meeting up with my friend Andrew for some good Chinese food at Mulan.

Dinner was great and Franco and I decided to continue the evening by meeting up with Frank and his friends at the Twisted Taco. We got there just in time for the last couple of rounds of trivia. After a few beers and a great time with the straight people, Franco and I met up with Colleen to check out the other side of the rainbow at Blake's on the Park. It was also "Brain Freeze Trivia" night there, so we hung out and chatted upstairs while the pretty people played trivia downstairs. We headed to bed early that night, though, because Franco had to teach his career planning course at GSU the next morning. It felt good to rest that night...I wasn't upset for an early night :)

Thursday: A long day of a lot of fun!
On Thurs, I took my time getting up and catching up with the news on Google Reader. I go through 20 or so news feeds a day on there in order to stay in touch with all the goings on around the world. I even keep up on the baseball scores, which was a big shock to my brother Frank when I started talking about them :)

We met up with Rachel and Andrew for lunch and afterwards Andrew and I spent a leisurely afternoon floating around Frank's pool and sunning. We talked for hours about whatever came up. It was a great way to spend a beautiful (and terribly HOT) day. By the time we were done with the pool we were damn near starving again :) Andrew and I headed over to one of Atlanta's finest restaurants, Roasters on Lenox Rd, and enjoyed some super southern cooking. Andrew was so hungry that he even invented his own dessert: key lime pie over corn bread. Haha! He loved it!

Franco gave us a ring during dinner and let us know he was done with classes. He met us at Frank's and the four of us (Frank being the fourth) went to the Flying Biscuit (which is owned by the Indigo Girls) for a coffee. We had some more good conversation over there before Frank went to meet Rachel for a movie and the three of us went to meet Colleen for a drink at Après Díem. Après Díem is a cool little lounge / restaurant in Midtown Atlanta where I used to hang out with the GLBT group from work from time to time. We kicked back on the patio there for a couple hours, sipping drinks and making conversation, when Frank came to meet us. Unfortunately he got there just as they were closing, so we moved the party over to Blake's at around 1:30a to see all of the drunk people bee bopping around. Franco really wanted to psycho-analyze one of them and we were eager to watch :) Much to our dismay, as we were finishing our first drink, the staff announced they were closing early so we headed to our respective homes around 2:00a. I was super glad that I got to spend virtually the entire day with Andrew because we hadn't gotten a lot of time to spend while I was actually living there. It was an awesome day and I was also glad that I got to share it with Colleen, Franco, and especially my big brother Frankie.

Friday: Time to head home...
Fri came and it was time to head home. I spent most of the day wrapping things up and getting ready to go to the airport. As luck would have it, I spent over 6 hours there before the friendly Delta agents let us know that the flight was canceled. When I tried to rebook for the next day, the agent said they didn't have anything going to Albany with seats on it until the next night! Since it was my grand uncle's 87th birthday that day, I arranged a flight to New York City (back to La Guardia) on Sat and then drove a rental car the rest of the way home. It wasn't very convenient, but at least I got there and was able to spend the day with my family.

Cheers,

M@

August 3 - 7, 2007 :: A Weekend Back Home

A Much Needed Weekend at Home
On Fri, Aug 3, I started the long journey back to Upstate NY from Mexico City, Mexico. Although my driver arrived just after 9:30a CST to pick me up, I didn't arrive until after 11:30p EST to the great Albany International Airport.

The Luggage Situation
If you've never entered into the United States of America through the famed Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, let me describe the process to you in one word: NIGHTMARE! After arriving at the gate, one has to walk half a mile (it seems) just to get to the passport control / immigration area. Unfortunately for me, there was a line at the passport control wrapping through several of the lanes. After wrestling through that jungle and being officially welcomed back to the US, I raced down the escalators to the baggage claim area. Another delay and a half later, I was grateful to see my luggage gliding up the beltway undisturbed and happy.

Now, keep in mind that at this point I had traveled internationally from Mexico of all places to the US and claimed both of my bags. When I brought them to the re-checking area to have them put on my next flight to Albany...a domestic flight mind you...the backlog of baggage to be put on the distribution belt was overwhelming. The attendants told me to put them as close as possible and just leave them. I let out a gaphaw, rolled my eyes, and pretty much banked on my luggage not making it on the same plane with me.

Although delayed (surprise) my flight to Albany went fairly well. I was comfortable, read the new Harry Potter book a little, and slept so I would be rested when I arrived and ready to go out to the WaterWorks. Sure enough, when I met my friend Geoff in baggage claim in Albany, my bags did not come off the belt there. The mildly stressed out Delta attendant told me that they were already prepared to be on the first flight to Albany from Atlanta the next day and that they would deliver them to my home that afternoon. I told Geoff that on the bright side now I didn't have to carry them around all night...of course on the down side my contacts were glued to my head at that point and my eyes were crying out for my glasses. C'est la vie...at least I was home!

A Day at the Lake House
After a fantastic night at my favorite bar/club on Earth (and I've been to quite a few in various countries...), my younger brother, Dave, and I drove out to our family's house on the Great Sacandaga Lake in Broadalbin, NY. This is my favorite place on Earth. I absolutely love going there. My older brother, Frank, was already there and the three of us were gathering to be with my Dad, "Bonus" Mom, sister, and grandmother for my Dad's birthday. It was a gorgeous day on the Lake with a bright sun warming our backs and a cool breeze making the temperature just right.

My family on my Dad's side is quite zaney...which explains me to a great extent. Hah! I took several photos and videos while up there so you can see just what I mean. Check them out at my Picasa album. My Dad also is quite skilled at making his own wine. Several bottles later and we were telling silly jokes, playing Parcheesi (a family tradition!), and I personally was passing out at the dinner table. :) After a quick drunken nap, though, my Dad and I took up the dice to play a round our favorite game. In Parcheesi there are four groups of four colored pawns which you race around the board in order to get them home. The first person to get their pawns home first wins. My family typically plays this with only two people controlling two colors each. My Dad, especially when he's playing after having had a few to drink, loves to sing about his pawns. It's always wonderfully entertaining and one of the things I'll remember about him and tell his children and their children about long in the future. Make sure to check out the last two videos at the link above to see this in action thanks to my brother, Frank.

A More Difficult Day To Come
The next day my brothers took our traveling show on the road to head to our Mother's house. After a quick breakfast and catching up with her and my Step-Father, the family piled into my old Honda Accord and zoomed off to Schenectady to see my grandmother, aunt, cousin, and grand uncle. We celebrated my Mother, brothers, aunt and my birthdays quickly, but the visit was overshadowed with a lot of emotional cloud cover. See...my grand uncle, Uncle Jimmy, had a stroke in early July. He's almost 87 years old and has been struggling with his recovery. He's currently in a nursing home for his long-term rehabilitation. They do therapy and are trying to get him to a state where he can at least function moderately on his own. The recovery has not been progressing very fast, though, and it's been painful for us all to stand by and watch, only able to offer emotional support.

After a family visit with him in the nursing home, our clan went west back down the river to visit my grandfather. My Step-Dad's Dad has also been having troubles healthwise. Our group met up with my two step-brothers, Noel & Reid, and their wives and kids. It was an extended family gathering at our grand parents' place which was much more full of laughter and story telling than earlier that day. Even my Aunt Janie came by to see us which was a wonderful bonus to the day.

Despite how difficult it was to see my family members suffering from illnesses that I could not help them with, I was grateful for that whole day...grateful to be able to see them, finally, in person...grateful to have the opportunity to share with them some of my own energy in hopes that it at least did some good...

Before I Knew It Back to Mexico
I was still home Monday, which was spent mostly catching up on mail, general tasks around the house, setting up my Mom's birthday present (a new printer), and finally, having dinner with one of my best friends alive, Brent. Brent, whom I refer to as Mama for various reasons, is also quite loved by my Mom and Step-Dad. We invited him to come out to dinner and enjoy an evening on the farm. Later he brought me back to his place so he could bring me to the airport the next morning. I had waaaay too much to drink and ended up text messaging half my address book (why don't people take my BlackBerry away from me when I'm like that? :). In general, it was a great end of the weekend, which made it that much harder to leave, of course, the next day. I kept telling myself, "8.5 more days and I'm done and back in the Northeast!"

I've been to so many places in the world, and although I know I haven't been to nearly as many exciting places as are out there, my heart and soul still live in Upstate NY. If you ever find that place that you know is your home...your true home...hold onto it. Don't leave and look for somewhere better...it doesn't exist. Don't let your company tear you away...they can't replace that feeling inside with all the money they can offer. Just hold on to it.

Cheers,

M@