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Welcome . . .
Chewin' the Fat is a publication from
The Complete Bear designed for the bear
community. It is published on the 2nd and 4th
Fridays of the month.
Chewin' the Fat will offer up the best
of the bear lifestyle - casual, cool, or woofy.
Whatever it takes to complete the bear.
For the bear, his cub and their den . . .
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DAYLIGHT CRAVINGS TIME
by Buzzed Beef
Greetings Bears! As we move out of Daylight Savings
Time and the nights grow longer, I hope everyone out
there has found them a nice warm man to snuggle up
with at night for the upcoming winter months. This is
actually my favorite time of the year. I love the cooler
weather. I guess bundling up against the cold
reminds me of my childhood and all the incredible
holiday foods that are just around the corner.
Unfortunately, for those of us trying to keep fit and
keep the pounds off, the holidays can be a
challenging time. I'm afraid my holiday eating has
started a wee bit too early this year. I've been trying to
maintain my diet as best I can, but for some reason I
have been having the most incredible cravings for
sugar. I don't know if it's purely psychological or if it
has something to do with the new schedule I am
keeping and my body is craving the energy yielded
from simple carbs, but I have found myself ingesting
far too much refined sugar the last few weeks. My
delivery system of choice seems to be gummi bears.
I'm sure Freud would have something to say about
that. Every time I turn around I am buying a pack of
gummi bears and chowing down on them. It's gotten
out of hand and I can really tell the difference in my
performance at the gym. I've been purposely staying
away from the scale because I know this bad habit is
putting the weight back on. I knew I would have
moments of weakness on this quest and give in to
temptation, but I was not expecting it to grip me so
strongly as it has these last few weeks. But, here I am
and all I can do is accept my weaknesses and learn
and grow from them.
Thus, I am attempting to wrestle back control of my
eating habits today. Prior to my new schedule, when I
had a day off in the middle of the week, I would cook
enough food on Sundays to last through Tuesday.
Then, on Wednesday, I would cook enough to get me
through Saturday. I've tried that the last few Sundays
and by Wednesday I was so tired that cooking was the
last thing on my mind. So Thursday through Friday
would find me eating out all the time. I simply cannot
do that anymore. So today, I am cooking for the entire
week. I've been going at it for the last two hours. I've
got every burner on the stove going in the background
right now as I type. Chicken is boiling in a pot. I'm re
hydrating sun-dried tomatoes. I've got onions and
garlic sautéing. In a while, I will be cranking up the
oven to make an enormous egg frittata to portion out
for my breakfasts for the week. My trainer is not wild
about my supplementing my diet with protein shakes,
so I had pulled myself off of them; but I must now
incorporate them back into my daily diet. A man's
gotta do what a man's gotta do.
Bear Fitness
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It must be time to shop
Starbucks told me so . . .
Part of my daily routine is to walk the dogs over to
Starbuck's for my morning jolt of caffeine. Yesterday's
outing was unremarkable - I exchanged pleasantries
with the head barrister who has my "usual" ready
before I ask, scoped out the new latin boy working the
register and waited while some lovely lady held up the
line for cream and stuff by chatting loudly into her cell
phone. It was 7:45, and she stood between me and
the pound of sugar and cream I need to make coffee.
A very dangerous place to be,
indeed . . .
But today, the world had changed. My Starbucks was
red. No, I mean really red!!
Apparently, the holidays had landed last night: The
barristers sported new red t-shirts, the wreaths on
the door were red (uh, it's not even Thanksgiving),
carols played on the muzak and the impulse items
overflowed the countertops. The holidays have
entered the building!
Guess, this is my not so subtle way of reminding you
the holidays are around the corner. Don't just
take
my
word for it, just ask your local barrister!
At The Complete Bear, we have a few items you won't
find at your local coffee shop. Bear Boxers, BuiltTough T's, Neoprene Harnesses, and Bear Jock Straps -
plenty of items under the tree for your favorite cub.
Oh yea, and if he says he is versatile - try not to giggle!
Shop today
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Interrupted Journeys
Lessons from The Lazarus Generation
A strange silence has fallen upon us. Twenty-five
years ago, AIDS emerged full-blown in the gay
communities of America, especially the urban
enclaves of San Francisco, New York, and Los
Angeles, and devastated an entire generation of gay
men. Survivors of ground zero, the "Lazarus
generation" of gay men (and fellow travelers), have not
only endured a historically unique, epoch-altering
collective experience, but have returned to life,
profoundly transformed in many ways. Yet, their voices
have fallen silent.
As individual memories fade, as myth and reality
commingle in the formation of public memory,
passing time compels that long-term survivors of the
Lazarus generation share their wisdom now, with
each other, their gay/queer community, and the world
at large. Wounded storytellers everywhere are
encouraged to share their portion of this common
journey, their experiences, insights, observations,
hopes and wisdom.
Interrupted Journeys: Lessons from The
Lazarus
Generation is an anthology of original essays,
in the
form of personal memoir, narrative fiction and poetry,
academic articles (including theoretical) and
professionally-informed studies documenting
explorations of transformation - individual or
collective, psychological, social, spiritual, or political -
written by self-identifying survivors, articulating
roughly "then and now" perspectives. Essays may
explore transformations, positive, negative, or
unresolved, newly arising issues such as living with
HIV in old age, the increasing social and sexual divide
between poz and neg gay men, long-term
adjustments to financial deprivation, chronic health
conditions (medical or mental), and social death and
resurrection, the rise of new gay archetypes and the
transformation of gay tribal community (AIDS as a
marker of tribal membership), or any heretofore
unexplored dimensions. Each essay should be
intelligent, engaging, aimed at a general audience,
and articulate insight, compassion, and wisdom.
Submissions should be 1500 - 4000 words in length,
be original or unpublished work (elaborations or
redevelopment of previously published work
acceptable), established authors, scholars, and other
professionals as well as fresh voices are welcome.
Diversity of perspectives and richness of experience
encouraged. Deadline: September 30, 2008.
Contact: Les Wright at leskwright
@thinkingbear.com
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Sincerely,
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Got Fur's second annual poll, the very best in
all things ursine.
We asked 12,000+ bears what they considered
themselves - here's what they told us:
