The dates they are a changing...



Tell me astory about me and you and I know how it will end, happily ever after, just like it will begin. And I'll show you a happy boy and a girl if you show me a picture of me and you...

Leaving is fine.



But this prolonged goodbye period is unsettling. I left my job, I left my apartment, I'm starting the goodbye process with my friends. I'll be saying goodbye to my family throughout the next three weeks.



In the kitchen a few days ago I said something about San Francsico and my mother randomly teared up. "It's going to be a long month," I told her.



But it will be a short month, I fear. Saturday I'm off to Ann Arbor. I will finally get to look into his eyes again.



Then I'm back, but ping-ponging from friend to family to dinners to movies. Perhaps a quick trip to Baltimore for a party next weekend? We'll see.



It may not be a long month, but it will be a tough month. June 23rd is nearing.

I'm so tempted to post a picture here ...

One hour to go.



Farewell lunch. Farewell party with cake. Early hug from Selean.



Sigh.

My last story for DiversityInc.com is about the concern among Asian-American organizations that "Pearl Harbor" may spur anti-Asian sentiment since it's such a highly emotional issue. Go read it (no linkie, sorry). But I talk a bit about come of the changes Disney made to the version of the film that will run in Japan. Check this out.

OH MY GOD.



Tomorrow is my last day at work. This is way insane.



Tonight, a big group of us are going out to dinner and to the martini bar to get me liquored up. I feel so loved.

All I have to say is: UNACCEPTABLE.



Buffy, what have you done? Why do you taunt me with this obviously impossible cliffhanger?



You see, the problem with this show, and all shows with bad guys, is there's too much talk. In this show, the dialogue is exceptional, but if the bad guys would stop showboating and just kill people, they'd be much more effective. Similarly, if Dawn had just thrown herself off the ... thing, then my darling Buffy wouldn't be pseudo dead.

It's been a few days - because smart people spend more time contemplating existentialism than blogging.



Also, they read lots of interviews with 12-year-old girls:



Frankie said she had a nice butt and then one day he woke up and goes "uh, her butt's ugly," and then everyone agreed with him.

In what will mark her first regular TV involvement since she began her career dancing in the Flygirl ensemble of the Fox comedy series ``In Living Color,'' Jennifer Lopez has made a deal with NBC to star in and produce a special this fall.



She also will develop a series based on her family and life in the Bronx. Gag.



But here's the good part. The story goes on to say that the deal was the brainchild of Jeff Gaspin, head of alternative series and specials for NBC Entertainment. He formed a friendship with Lopez while he was working at VH1.



This is his quote: “I can't wait to see what Jennifer will wear.”



Either he’s shamelessly horny or extremely gay.

Smart TJ.

Hey, I'm smart, and I have proof!



3.875 GPA this semester.

It's really cool when you tell you're editor, "Oh this story is going to be late, I'm waiting on quotes." And she responds, "Oh. OK. It's a dumb story anyway."



Well, I don't wanna do it, then!



:)

I'm writing stories about PBS and the Environmental Protection Agency, but, surprisingly, I'm sort of excited about them. I think the PBS story will be fun because I'm in love with American High (despite having caught only three episodes) and I get to feature it.

Leads are my specialty. I try to make them concise and creative, but it took me close to 20 minutes of staring my computer screen before this lead came to me. It earned praise from my editor, so I demand praise from you.

There’s no place like Home Depot, unless you’re one of the Fortune 500 company’s gay employees.

Despite its reputation as a champion of diversity, the country’s largest home-improvement chain is urging its shareholders to reject a resolution that would include gays in its anti-discrimination policy.

“Home Depot claims to bar employment discrimination, but its written policies do not explicitly bar discrimination based on sexual orientation,” the resolution states. “By implementing a written policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, our company will ensure a respectful and supportive atmosphere for all employees and enhance its competitive edge.”

Gay-themed commercials are a relatively new phenomenon born from a recent realization that the gay community’s disposible income is too great for corporate America to ignore.

The Commercial Closet, on online archive of hundreds of gay-themed TV commercials from around the world, offers an interesting commentary and history of gay advertising.

Today I love:

The overweight, balding, older man sitting in his white Mercedas, pumping gangsta rap.

Today I hate:

Candice Choi, who left for Puerto Rico after having destroyed my desk plant at work in a jealous rage. My plant was lucious and healthy and hers was pitiful. Revenge will be mine.

Our company is being featured in a Business Week story about CEOs sounding off on diversity in corporate America. It's fun to see our president, Luke, in the same story as the head of AOL Time Warner.

Why does Felicity and Dawson's Creek *affect* me?

It's all goodbye and graduation and love and sadness and joy. This conflict of emotions that the characters, and me, exhausted and excited all at once.

Hmm.

Last final completed.

It's all coming to a close so quickly. I stop and look every once in a while, aware that this could be my last time walking on Douglass campus or taking the L bus or driving past Passion Puddle.

At home, this weekend, I drove and drove and drove along the too-familiar roads of Allendale, across the overpass in Ramsey, down the windy streets of Upper Saddle River. Watching everything. Conscious of time and firsts and lasts.

I want to slow everything down and speed it up. I want to lay on my futon at home and I want to read the Chronicle on his futon. I want it all.

"And if I knew everything would end soon, I'd still choose to be with you."

Yesterday it was 88 degrees, today it is 58. What have we done to anger Mother Nature?

Another [unrelated] question: Why does the org bring me such joy? Honestly, I think that since it was one of the first online journal-esque sites I came acress, back in 1997 or early 1998, and since it's design has remained mostly the same, it provides a since of familiarity - something that will come in handy this summer.

To end this trilogy of randomata, I think I'm, buying the Eden's Crush CD today. I can't help myself, they're so talented! Seriously, yo, I refused to watch Making the Band and Popstars (and all other reality shows other than Real World, in protest), but I caught part of an MTV Popstars marathon, and I feel in love with the girls. In. Love. Plus, they sound way better live than on the single for "Get Over Yourself," which is no small feat.

I just called the Democratic National Committee, and was going to leave a message with the communications department, but the voice mail troll said: You have a maximum of two seconds to record your message. And it actually cut me off after two seconds!

Im a little late on this, seeing as how I have NO CABLE and NO INTERNET, but this is really funny:

"Hanson admits to incestuous homosexuality"

The funniest bit is that Candice actually thought this was real. Talk about a P.R. blunder.

TJ is a sun reflecting sparkle.

I feel dried out and a smell of suntan lotion.

It's brilliant.

I zoomed down to Ocean Grove this afternoon and sat in the sun (cloudless skies + 87 degree temp.) reading Rolling Stone and Shampoo Planet. I walked around, sang as loud as I could on a secluded part of the beach and continued up Route 36, exploring sea towns I'd never visited before. Eatontown, Sea Bright, Sandy Hook, Atlantic Highlands.

Tomorrow, I take my Shakespeare final at 12. I hope I'll be done by 2 so I can head back down the highway and enjoy another warm, sunny day. And finish this wicked tan I started developing today. I even found my suntan lotion with special sun reflecting sparkles! Ha ha ha.

tjdegroat.com

Temporary design, but serves its purpose, for now.

1. Apparantly, there is a water crisis in New Brunswick, with fecal matter showing up in water. McDonalds is serving cans instead of fountain soda and the Stop & Shop ran out of bottled water this morning, according to the lovely Kathy.

2. My professor for media law mistakingly told us our final is tomorrow, which is really a reading day. Our final is *next* Wednesday. Kathy and I only discovered this through luck and after calling the journalism department.

3. Since I don't have to study tonight, I'm going to Manhattan to see Margaret Cho at a book reading/signing with Candice. Good times.

Looking at the ingredients of my gummi strawberries, I realize there is grape, pear and apple juice, but no strawberry flavoring...

Dude, I've interviewed Heather Cirmo a couple of times and, although I should remain objective, her opinions and those of the Family Research Council, would make even a casually gay-friendly person's mouth drop. Their section on the "Homosexual agenda" is a quite funny read, though.

Rabbit, rabbit.