Really Apologetic HNT

(No, no apologies for this one!)

New red corset – very difficult to get into on my own, and there’s nobody here to help me. It isn’t very comfortable for sitting around in the sun, but certainly worth a look for any Peeping Tom that might be lurking outside my window. Think you know who I am? Leave me a comment.

Today’s Mystery Guest is Susan. Be sure to stop by her place for a bonus corset shot!

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This one calls for an apology. Or a warning. Or both. If you know me in real life, this is your one warning not to go any further!

I have never been considered a “skinny” kid. My dad’s side of the family was generally big-boned. My mother’s side certainly wasn’t. I inherited dad’s genes in this case. While I was hardly what could be considered obese in high school, I didn’t quite have the athletic build that I could have. Weight didn’t really start to show up until the fine diet I was exposed to in college (good thing beer didn’t contribute to that…).

In my case, weight seems to come in waves. And in response to events in my life. I don’t become alcoholic. I don’t use drugs. I don’t do any of the other vices that I might fall back on to mask the stress/pain/whatever. But I do eat. I’ve never had a problem with that! I am a large man. Have been for years. I’m used to it. I might not like it at times, but I am what I am. I am aware that my own sense of my body is less than what pictures tell me. Perhaps that’s a defense mechanism on my part.

As hinted at last week, I’m posting a picture of my butt. My big pasty white butt. I feel like I might have “cheated” some of you last week with my knee. This picture gives me my first taste of what it’s like for some of you to bare your breast for the first time. I don’t particularly like what I see, but it’s me, in all my glory. I’m rather nervous about this, and can now appreciate what some of you have dealt with in the past. On the plus side, I’m fairly certain that no one’s going to be downloading it!

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Be sure to check out the early postings by Aughra (looking damned good in chocolate!), Boo, DaMasta and BTExpress (who shows me how it’s done).

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Again, a reminder – my birthday is April 15th.

This Really Is Nuts!

There you have it. Visitor #200,000. Happened at about 12:45 local time today. From Lenexa, Kansas. Anybody recognize who this might be? I’m afraid it’s someone who was just passing through and landed on the HNT Guidelines page. If you’re this person, let me know!
(**click on the picture for better detail**)

Ponderings during the day

These were some thoughts that tiptoed through my mind today:

• My sisters grew up with a need for peanut butter & pickle sandwiches every day. Does anyone else eat that, or is that totally weird?

• Have you ever answered the phone, or carried on a conversation, and all of a sudden the other person says something that sounds like gibberish? I mean, a common word or phrase that you ask them to repeat a couple of times because your mind just couldn’t grasp it? Or is that just me?
• How far is going “too far” with HNT? And will I be crossing my own line tomorrow?
• One of my blogger friends has some great news, and I can’t share it with anyone. I wonder how many will ask?
• I’ve been thinking about starting an alternate site for anonymous HNT pics. I’ve had a number of people mention that they’ve got pictures they’d like to use as a Mystery Guest photo, but don’t want to wait to get picked, and they’re too risque to post on their own site. Would a separate page for anonymous HNT pics be needed or used?
• Has anyone seen the bronze sculpture that’s supposedly Britney Spears on all fours on a bearskin rug giving birth? You can buy one for your coffee table! Any takers?
• Had a little birthday thing for my youngest niece (N3) on Monday. She turned 13. There’s something about that magic “teenager” label–I think she’s going to break some hearts over the next few years!
• There’s more, but I forgot to write any of it down during the day. My mind is made of swiss cheese–more damned holes in it than you can believe!

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One last cool thing happened today. I got a phone call from the Great Falls Symphony (about 90 miles north of here) asking me to sub for their regular bass trombonist for next week’s concert. That in itself isn’t a big deal, but the concert is special. Somehow, they’ve raised the money to bring in Itzhak Perlman to play! He’s one of the top violinists alive today. Born in Israel, he contracted polio as a child. He hasn’t let that slow him down. And he’ll be playing in Great Falls next week and I’ll be in the orchestra! Tickets for this were sold out months ago at about $100 a pop, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll be in the orchestra!! And the truly best part–the two concertos he’ll be playing don’t use the trombones, so I’ll be able to enjoy his participation as much as the audience! I don’t usually gush about solo artists like this, but he’s a big deal. Think of Brett Favre coming to play quarterback with the Montana State Bobcats. I’ll see if I can get pics…

Odds and Ends

What a long, busy weekend THAT was! The concert went well. Very well, actually. I was involved in thirteen hours of rehearsal/performance in the span of just over 24 hours. Loved it, but it’s very draining! Now I’m way behind on checking blogs, and some real life things too, so it’ll take a day or two to catch up. Just in time for HNT!

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A reminder to all to send in a picture if you’re interested in being the Mystery Guest!

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I think it’s time to end the OsQuiz. Here’s the questions, and the correct answers (with appropriate links to the posts):

1) I’ve met up with bloggerfriends in: Nashville.
2) My first blogger fan was: Lizabeth.
3) The most recent major concert that I’ve attended was: The Rolling Stones.
4) You’re most likely to find me drinking: a local microbrew.
5) The one who has been with me through thick and thin over the past 25 plus years of my life is: Michelle.
6) My favorite Bacardi Silver flavor: Watermelon.
7) The major magazine that featured HNT last year was: Business and Economy. The original Mystery Guest concept came about last fall because of: a stolen camera.
9) I live alone, with the exception of: my plants. (no specific post about plants, but certainly no mention of a son, dog or fishies, either!)
10) I’ve been photographed (in person) with how many different bloggers over the past year? 17. (this one was a bit tricky, but there’s at least 11 different people shown with me in this collage, and that didn’t include the males in Nashville or Rachel.)

Very few people missed the microbrew question–go figure! The first question about Nashville was missed alot. Surprisingly few got the Michelle question right, either. Popular answer there was Moose, which she appreciated. Except for the fact she’s only 28. BTW–she missed it too!

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Just a reminder that my birthday is just under 3 weeks away–April 15th.

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Sitemeter tells me I’m due to get my 200,000th visitor in the next day or two. Does anyone else find that incredibly insane?

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FYI–I’ll be heading to the Caribbean for a cruise during the last week of April. My first. I’ll be talking all about that in the weeks to come, you can be sure!

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Not much more for now….

A Puzzle

Can you figure this one out?

Busy Days Ahead

I just wanted to take the opportunity to let everyone know that I’m going to be scarce until Sunday afternoon, probably. Symphony is playing the Mahler 5 and the Barber Violin Concerto. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry, but assume it means lots of rehearsal, the accompanying melodrama, and little chance to sleep or eat over the next couple of days.

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Many thanks to those of you who offered to kiss, pinch or squeeze my ass yesterday! Makes it harder to admit that, as some of you guessed, it was actually the inside of my left knee. If I have a chance, I’ll post the uncropped version to show you. HOWEVER, due to the many kind comments, I am considering doing the real thing for you next week. You have been warned…

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I’ve been remiss in mentioning that over the past couple of months, some of my HNT posts have actually been uploaded by another person due to my occassional Wednesday night rehearsals. Rather than opening comments at 10:45 MST or later, I enlisted the lovely and talented (and fellow Montanan) Crimson to keep running things smoothly. If for some unknown reason you haven’t been over to her site (and that would really surprise me) go check her out and say hi! And thank you, Red!

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Apologetic HNT

Before going any farther (further?)–I apologize for what you’re about to see…

Well, after last week’s shot of my back (for which many of you seemed thankful wasn’t furry), I figured I’d take another picture, but somewhat lower. This has only been hinted at in the past, but here it is, seen in all its glory. I’ve seen other guys do this shot, and even some girls, so I figured it was time to show that I could do it too. No real stories to tell. I severely hurt it while playing softball a number of years ago. I’ve never actually had anyone kiss it. Or much of anything else, for that matter. Except for maybe a few very fulfilling massages. But that’s as far as I’m willing to admit to. Please be gentle with the comments…

Do you have any idea how hard it is to take this shot???

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Today’s Mystery Guest came as a bit of a surprise to me. This is another one who is baring quite a bit more than she has in her previous HNTs. The back tattoo would be a great giveaway, but we’ve never seen it! The only hints I’ll give is that she’s got a relative who also HNTs, and she is probably older than you think! This MG is a bit shy, so she’s not going to let me reveal her identity, though if you think you know who it is, feel free to email her and ask–she won’t deny it.

As always, if you’re interested in becoming the Mystery Guest, simply send in your picture and request!

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To avoid cramming it all down your throats all at once–I’m letting you know that my birthday is April 15th. I’ll continue to remind you as we get closer.

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Be sure to check out Voodoo. She had to post early.

OsQuiz

I stole a quiz idea from Spinning Girl, who stole it from…, who stole it from…. You know the story.

Go here to take the OsQuiz. Prizes may be given!

EDIT–I am amazed at the number of people taking the OsQuiz! And a little surprised at where everyone is shaking out at. So far only one person has scored 100 (nice job, QoP!), and the ones at 90, 80 and 70 don’t really surprise me. There’s a couple of you at 60 or lower that I expected to do better! And a large number of lurkers have taken it apparently, because there’s names that I don’t recognize! If you haven’t taken the OsQuiz yet, feel free to do so. All answers, with the possible exception of the last one (deductive reasoning) can be found somewhere in the archives. Have fun!

Miscellany

I don’t have anything wonderful to write about. Well that’s not true. I’ve been phoning and chatting and emailing with a handful of bloggerfriends over the past week. Thanks to all of you who have taken my mind off of other things!

Ooh–big news! Andi has started up a new webzine! She’s enlisted the help of some of your favorite bloggers to write articles/features/reviews for it (including yours truly). Click on the button over there in the sidebar for Estella’s Revenge. It’ll take you right there. Check it out!

St. Patrick’s Day started well, and then sort of mellowed out as the day went on. I didn’t go out that night, as I had a rehearsal at the ass crack of dawn the next morning. Being sober would be a good thing for that. Besides, I took care of the partying early in the day!

We got about 5 inches of heavy wet snow through Saturday night. Winter’s last hurrah, I hope. Supposed to be getting nicer now starting mid-week. Welcome Spring!

I received a gift in the mail from Bekah for winning a little quiz she had. And I’m expecting another one from Melanie in the next day or two. Add that to the Christmas CD that I got from Brico, and I’ve made a pretty good haul! I’ll detail things when I get them all in…

To finish this post, I’ll randomly answer questions/comments that were left over the past few days. If they make no sense, that’s OK. The person that asked will figure it out!
–Seems like there was a problem for a couple of people trying to put one of the HNT buttons on their sites. Try again, and if you still have problems, email me.
–Monkey–I’ll take the massage!
–Sam–Lots of brownie points for you. An open-eyed facial!
–Aisha–No Butte this year, but lots of search hits on my site looking for the M&M webcam!
–Chuck–I drank at O’Toole’s, but not at your O’Tool….
–Keda–email me if you’re still having problems.
–Yes, I broke my back twice. Not to be confused with Brokeback…
–Lil Bit–Looking forward to Easter!
–Tess–Get your camera fixed!
–Robyn–You can be next after Monkey.
–Vic–We’re square on the punishment (she has the cutest freckle…)
–Just Me–Had issues getting to your picture. Anyone else?
–CuriousPussy–Yes, it counts on Friday!
–Chelle–I wore green, but you can pinch me anytime you want!
–le chat–I’ve heard that the GNP of the US dips just a little on Thursdays now!
–Lizabeth–Good to hear from you! Hope all is well!
–MG–I’ll look into the ‘Virgin HNTers’ thing, but don’t get your hopes up…
–Crimson–I had a couple for you! And they weren’t Heinekens, either!!
–SG–Come to MT anytime you want. I’ll take care of your every need!
–Binsk–I sense a beer challenge. Bring it on!
–Just Thinking–Hi!

That’s all folks! Have a great week!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!

First off–great response to the “greening” of HNT! I hope you enjoyed doing it! Next “theme” will come in the summer…

I got home late, so I can’t post all that I wanted to. I’ll be at O’Toole’s Bar at 8:00 AM to get the first green beer out of the tap. I’ve been doing that for 15 years now. And of course, there will be more than one. And probably a shot or two of Irish whiskey. I’ll probably have some pictures to post. THEN I HAVE TO GO TO WORK!!

Actually, I will play it fairly low-key this year and won’t drink much in the afternoon or evening. I’ve got an early morning rehearsal on Saturday, so I’ll need to be somewhat sober.

I have some things to tell you. Gifts in the mail, symphony week, some other things. Unfortunately, they’ll probably have to wait until Saturday.

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day! Be safe!!

UPDATE!! I’ve been to O’Toole’s. Three green beers, a Guinness, and 3 shots of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, and I’m ready for work! Sorry, no pictures…