It’s less than a week until the new season of Queer Eye premieres. I’ve listed my top ten episodes and today I’ll go over #6 to #10. I plan to watch the top five this upcoming week and the season premiere this Friday.

Here’s the first half of my top ten. I’ve carefully made this list giving equal praise to every city the Fab Five has been at. Oh, and the best dog award goes to Bruley from seasons three and four.

#10–Disabled But Not Really (Season 4, Kansas City) #9–Jones BBQ (Season 3, Kansas City)

#8–Preaching Out Loud (Season 5, Philadelphia) #7—Groomer Has It (Season 5, Philadelphia) both of these episodes aired back to back.

#6–A Night to Remember (Season 6, Austin), and kicking off my top five tomorrow will be… drumroll, please… Dega Don’ts (Season 1, Atlanta).

I chose ‘Dega Don’ts because of the conversation that Cory and Karamo have in the car and how they’re able to see eye to eye despite their differences. That’s just it. I don’t care if you’re a Trumpkin rocking your MAGA-hat proud of your religion and country (I have a strong faith in Jesus ✝️ and love the USA 🇺🇸 too).

As long as you’re accepting of other people’s differences, you’re not a bully, and you’re not an asshole, then honey you’re all right in my book.

PSA done and, now, on to my feature presentation.

I took advantage of my Saturday morning off to have coffee at the Kentlee. While there, I had the opportunity to meet two of my Instagram friends whom I follow and like my posts. As soon as I walked in, I met Jill from LittleGiasGoodies and we must have chatted for at least a half hour. We talked about a collab and a Gigibomb (it’s very tasty) that I’m going to try in June. Forget A-list Hollywood celebrities, it’s nice to meet my IG friends in person, like when I ran into Vanessa (thebombshellsuite) in Ligonier during Fort Days.

While having coffee, I also got to meet Katie (BlufinnBoutique). She complimented me on my fashion and was thrilled she finally got to meet me as well. Getting to meet these two really made my Saturday morning. I even was able to get a few places down for food reviews. French Express in Latrobe and Kitchen on Main in Ligonier, I’m coming for you. I hope we all meet again soon. Maybe I’ll stop down and check out one of their pop-ups.

Afterwards, I topped off my Saturday morning by going to the mall. With me becoming President of the Greensburg club for the 2023-24 Toastmasters year, I wanted to look a little more conservative in my appearance. Don’t worry, the nonconforming adventures aren’t coming to an end.

At Old Navy, I bought some button down shirts and some polo shirts, channeling my inner Tan and my inner Bobby from Queer Eye. I also bought some new sandals 👡 and a tote perfect for pride month. I saw a bomber jacket perfect for my inner Karamo but held back on buying that because it wasn’t on sale.

My inner Karamo and inner Antoni will have to wait. My inner Jonathan Van Ness 👗, that’s what shopping online is for.

For most people, January and February seem to last the longest, due to the short days and cold weather, as well as the lack of sunlight.

For me, April seemed to go on longer than expected. I don’t know if you would call that a good or bad thing. But that’s one’s opinion.

Overall, it was still a pretty good month. While I didn’t come out with much content, I started to realize that’s not a bad thing as I’m not rushing to get to 500 blog posts. Back in March, I was worried that I was heading for yet another depression. However, I got through it and the same can be said about April.

Highlights of April included me going to see the Super Mario Bros. movie. What did I think of the film? I thought it was really good. I loved the animation as well as the scenes that related to everything that makes Mario famous. I also loved Bowser’s love ballad to Peach.

The movie is a box office smash as it has recently grossed over $1 billion worldwide. It came out earlier in the month and has set records. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, go out and see it. It appeals to all ages and it brought out the inner child in me.

My Toastmasters fire continues to burn once again as I’ve come to enjoy my involvement in the organization once again. Maybe it’s because I was called on to be President at Greensburg for the upcoming 2023-24 Toastmasters year. I missed the Spring Conference but didn’t let that extinguish the flame. Our club just needs one new member and they’ll be eligible to reach at least Select Distinguished status. Some clubs in the District have already reached Presidents’ Distinguished (9 or 10 out of 10 goals reached), like Cranberry High Noon and Indiana (which relocated and meets on a different day now). Area 12 is having all of their club reach Distinguished or higher.

What brought me down was the pandemic, which forced us to all meet online. While we’ve gone hybrid, I had my own demons to fight as well and that I am still fighting. I nearly gave up on my non-binary journey but my cousins and a few co-workers have encouraged me to keep fighting because what I’m doing could really inspire someone else. I have the support of most of my family (keyword:most). It’s hard to live at home and be on this journey. I feel I need a bigger community and the help of the Fab Five. While I identify as non-binary in my own light, part of me is still unsure where I stand.

Now that we’ve entered May, I’m going to keep cheering on our clubs as we near the end of the year. Greensburg will be online due to our meeting place being used for the Spring election (we meet at the Westmoreland County Courthouse). I’m going to get back to the gym, but also try to make time to get outside as well.

I have a couple of checkups this month and I believe they’ll go well. My blood pressure is down from what it was two years ago. I’m glad I have been able to get it under control.

It’s celebration time this week as Abigail’s Coffeehouse in Ligonier celebrates its 25th anniversary. Abigail’s is a frequent and favorite stop for me whenever I’m in my little Stars Hollow. I love everything that they do for the community and their cinnamon rolls and pepperoni rolls are awesome. Every holiday, they do a Twelve Coffees of Christmas and you have to try at least a few. I tried to have all 12 but I didn’t quite get them all.

The Kentlee is having a pop-up this Saturday with Little Gia’s Goodies. Both of these businesses are ones I’m always following on Instagram. I plan on doing a collab at some point this year with Jill and trying out a Gigibomb, plus I look forward to meeting one of the people I follow on Instagram.

Finally, I will be going out for dinner Thursday night with Mr. Clougherty. This is my 11th year meeting up with him and it’s always a great way to us to catch up. We’ll meet at the Pourhouse (this Thursday) as well as Eat’n Park. Rizzo’s in Crabtree might be on the schedule, as well as Burgatory and North Park Lounge in Murrysville.

This week was one that was about appreciation as well as saying so long. It was during this week that we celebrated one of our good friends. For me, it was also about saying goodbye to someone who enjoyed hearing about my journey.

Tuesday was our Laurel Highlands Toastmasters meeting. It was a meeting in which our president Ryan encouraged us to bring a small appetizer or snack. The occasion was that we were having a little party for one of our dedicated members since it was her last in person meeting with us.

Sharon Joseph had a big hand in starting the Laurel Highlands Toastmasters club in June of 2021. It became the first chapter in Fayette County since the early 1980s. I first met her at the DTM gala at Westmoreland County Community College in July, right after the club began having meetings (at the Connellsville Canteen). It was the first club to be chartered as a hybrid club (which meant that meetings would be in person and online).

The club had its red carpet celebration in November of 2021, just before I left WIS and started working at Giant Eagle. It was a big event with many people attending.

Sharon recently married and has relocated to Maryland, and her husband Gary is involved in Toastmasters as well. We’re hoping that they will eventually get a Toastmasters chapter started in either Bedford County, or somewhere around the Frostburg, Lavale, or Cumberland area.

Some of the culinary highlights of the meeting were the sweet and sour meatballs and the cheeseburger dip. I bought two bags of potato chips. We had plenty of guests attending as well, family members of Sharon’s as well as Andrea’s.

Thursday night was my last night working with someone who has been interested in my non binary journey. I haven’t really shared my journey with a lot of people. I don’t really talk about it that often because there’s no one around for me most of the time to talk to anyway. This has left me somewhat burned out. I’m still not going to give up the fight, however.

For my departing coworkers to tell me how much they appreciated hearing about my journey meant a lot, and it makes me happy that Giant Eagle is accepting to people who are LGBTQIA+🌈. I will miss chatting about Queer Eye with them as the new season kicks off in a few weeks.

I’ll always be JVG to Donald and Brogan. As they move on from Giant Eagle, my parting gift to them is that I will always keep slaying.

Today’s blog goes back to the Spring of 2003. During this time in my life, I was getting ready to close one chapter of my life and move on to the next. My time at Penn Highlands Community College (not its name at the time) was coming to an end. I was going to continue my education at Slippery Rock University that fall.

I’m going to open up a six pack of facts on my community college years as we look back on the good old days. Hard to believe it‘s been that long since I graduated high school and began college.

1-The community college education was the key to eventually transferring to a four year college down the line. That plan came to fruition when I shopped for colleges in the Fall of 2002 and got in to Slippery Rock at the end of March 2003.

2-The school I attended started holding classes in 1994, so back then it was relatively new and didn’t have a satellite campus. Thus, they operated at five different locations. The West site was at the Hiram G. Andrews Center, where I was residing my first three years of college.

Other campuses included downtown Johnstown in the old Glosser Bros. building (Central Park Campus), Richland (two locations—East and CTC) and Ebensburg (North). For the first year, I’ll admit it was nice to not have to venture out in the cold to go to class as some of my courses were offered at the Hiram G. Andrews Center.

3-Community college is a relatively inexpensive way to get credits out of the way and have them transferred when go are ready to go to a four year university. This can save a fortune on tuition and room and board down the line, thus avoiding massive student debt.

4-In January of 2008, the College moved the main campus to its current location on Community College Way in Richland, across from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Originally, the main campus was at the Greater Johnstown Career and Technology Center. Program offerings were revamped at Ebensburg, and additional locations were added in Somerset, Huntingdon, and Blair Counties, expanding the College’s reach.

When I was a student there, the college operated under a different name and mainly served the Johnstown area, as well as Ebensburg and Cambria County. The name change to Penn Highlands Community College occurred on July 1, 2004. The vision of President Dr. Anna Weitz (the college’s third president, who served from 2002-2007) was to grow enrollment and expand outreach of the College to surrounding counties that are underserved or not served by a community college. Hence, the name change to Penn Highlands Community College.

https://www.pennhighlands.edu/about/history/

5-Most, if not all, community college students commute every day instead of living on campus. My case is different than that. I could have attended Westmoreland County Community College (to us Westmoreland County folk, that’s what we call 3 C’s). But, my mother wanted me to experience life on my own and that’s why I attended school in Johnstown. I attended community college while living at the Hiram G. Andrews Center.

6-Public transportation (CamTran) was my friend for the time that I attended the community college as a majority of my classes would end up being downtown or in Richland. I had to take my placement tests Downtown when I was getting ready to enroll there in late 2000 for classes the next semester, and so I had to rely on the bus to get me there.

Overall, the experience was great. It was hard sometimes to juggle the drama of living at HGA with the stresses of dealing with my major classes. But attending there helped me to achieve my goal of moving onto a four year school in 2003.

The school will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2024, but it had an impact during its young existence in helping contribute to my success at Slippery Rock University.

The year was 2019.

I was close to achieving my Distinguished Toastmaster award and had just one project left to complete my Advanced Communicator Gold requirements. All the manuals and traditional awards have since gone away and we are completely in the Pathways Educational program now. I sent in the paperwork for my awards and had my DTM plaque sent to me in September of 2019. A few weeks later our club had an open house and I was presented with my Distinguished Toastmaster award.

It was a great contest season as I became really involved that Spring with the Division Speech and Tall Tales contests. The Spring conference a few weeks later was one of the best that I ever attended. It was the conference where I came up with the term “DTM Huddle” when the Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters all gathered after running the gauntlet.

Our district was looking really good and was growing clubs. Our outlook was wall to wall sunshine without a cloud in the sky. I felt I was in a good place as well building my Toastmasters family and finally feeling good about my job after so many years of frustration. I had my own thing going for me. I even launched this blog and had my own sense of style. 2019 was the year, for me, that DTM Huddle became a household name.

Then… the rains came.

March 2020 brought the news of the fast-spreading COVID-19 outbreak. Instead of looking forward to upcoming speech contests and conferences, we would be on lockdown and sheltering in place. Masks and social distancing would become a thing. Toastmasters meetings would still go on, but online through a platform called Zoom. My place of employment was shut down for two months, but once I returned things would never be the same.

I received the Spirit of Toastmasters award in September 2020 for my passion for visiting other Toastmasters clubs and being a goodwill ambassador for the District. Not long after though, I went through the motions for the next couple of years. I wondered whether I not I wanted to continue in Toastmasters. I went through changes in my life, including turning 40 and leaving WIS for Giant Eagle. My gender nonconformity support system was dwindling away and I began to feel depressed. Plus I was trying to figure out how to do everything on top of my work schedule.

Almost three years to the date that the world had shut down, my Toastmasters spirit was about to be reborn.

Following the Greensburg Toastmasters meeting on March 15, I was approached by our past President about taking on the role for the upcoming year. I accepted the offer like that and already had some good ideas for the club. I’ve served as President before in Greensburg and in Achievers, but this time feels different. Maybe it’s because I’m in the post-WIS era now and I don’t feel as distracted by everyone’s negativity as I did then. But it’s safe to say that my Toastmasters future looks bright now compared to when it looked uncertain in 2022 and even the beginning of 2023.

While I missed the conference, I was able to see it through some of the pictures taken by our members who attended. Our Greensburg meeting this past week saw me step up to the plate and evaluate our Area Director’s panel discussion speech on non-profits. She is the Division C Director-elect for 2023-24. The most recent Laurel Highlands meeting I led a Table Topics session with a theme centered around flowers and what their meaning is. I was able to get full participation from the group, including online.

Thursday night, I attended the training session that the Division B director holds on Zoom. When I accepted the nomination for President, I wanted to attend these events to set a better example for myself as a member and Greensburg Toastmasters President-elect. I plan to take advantage of any upcoming sessions that may be held in the future when my schedule allows for it.

My Toastmasters fire was extinguished for a time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a huge lifestyle change for everyone. My interest had gone down because of everything else going on in my life as well. However, it’s on its way back up now and I’m ready to lead Greensburg to success.

I hit 400 blog posts in Feburary and was looking at late summer to hit the next big milestone. However, I’ve realized that there’s no rush. When it gets here, I’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment for having achieved it.

Wednesday night I took in a pre-Toastmasters meal in downtown Greensburg. That way I could be close to the Courthouse and I needed a change from the mall food. What better place to go than Oliver’s Pourhouse?

I’m no stranger to eating here. They have great food and they’re nestled in the heart of downtown. It’s a great place to grab a beer and catch the Steeler game. If you’re in town to go to the Palace Theatre, you have a place to eat before the show. I

I’m never disappointed with their service and have been coming here since 2016. It’s mine and Mr. Clougherty’s favorite place when we get together for dinner. We’ll be there next week to kick off our eating out season.

My latest visit here was like all the others. I walked in and took a seat near the bar area. My server came over and took great care of me, gave me time to order, and was very courteous and did her job well. Hard to choose between a sandwich and a burger sometimes because the food is so amazing.

Kevin (Mr. Clougherty) and I have sometimes run into his swimmers at the restaurant as they have worked there at one time or another.

My food was amazing as always. My server asked me how I liked my burger (I always go medium because I like a little pink in mine) and gave me the option to do fries or chips. Restaurants like when their waitstaff upsells. At Kings, management always encouraged servers to suggest soda as a beverage to generate more sales.

I was pleased as always with the quality of my food. On this latest visit, I ordered the Black n Blue Burger. Also on the menu is the Home Wrecker which is a burger with peanut butter and jelly. I ordered that before too and it was great.

I had water to drink but on past visits I have ordered beer or a cocktail. It all depends on what I’m feeling and what I think will best compliment the burger or sandwich.

Oliver‘s took a big hit during the pandemic and was closed for a while; however, they have since reopened and recently went back to regular hours. They are open Monday to Saturday (closed Sundays) from 11 to 9 so it’s definitely a perfect spot for lunch as well.

I tipped my server very well for her excellent service and left happy looking forward to my next visit, which carried over into my Toastmasters meeting.

Overall grade: A+

In this blog, I’ll talk up Toastmasters, my upcoming dinner tradition with Mr. Clougherty and, my recent trip to Ligonier.

This past weekend was the 2023 District 13 Conference which was held at the Doubletree Pittsburgh hotel in Washington, PA, near the Meadowlands. I didn’t attend, however I have been to a past conference at this venue. It was April 2015 when Sharon Hill was the keynote speaker.

I was sad to miss what was a great conference but I saw pictures from one of my fellow members in Greensburg. Her husband was competing in the Table Topics and Speech contests. Also, new officers were nominated for the district and division as well as the finance manager (formerly known as District Treasurer). We vote for four division directors, as well as the three “District Trio” positions. Those are Club Growth Director, Program Quality Director, and District Director. We also vote for the Finance Manager. All other positions are usually filled before our summer Club Officer Training in June, including the Area Directors.

Our officer list for Greensburg is nearly complete as six of the seven roles for next year have been filled. All we’re still looking for is a club secretary. I’ll be assuming the duties of Club President starting on July 1. Back on March 15, I was asked if I was interested in leading the club and immediately agreed.

For the longest time, I’d been going through the motions in Toastmasters and wasn’t sure I wanted to stick around too much longer. I didn’t know where I was in my path as I hadn’t spoke in several months plus, my interest had been waning since the pandemic forced us all to meet online back in the Spring of 2020. When Jim and Michelle asked me about serving as President at Greensburg for the upcoming Toastmasters year, that changed things and renewed my interest. My excitement for going to the meetings has come back. Even though it was too little too late for me to sign up for the Spring Conference, I also had other pressing family matters on my mind as well.

2023-2024 will be a great Toastmasters year for me and for Greensburg. I plan to give more speeches and be a great example that my club can follow. I want to stay up to date on the Distinguished Club Program and learn all the paths in Pathways and what they entail so I can educate myself better. We have a chance for our club to be no worse than Select Distinguished by the end of the year.

I will do everything I can to lead us to Presidents’ Distinguished by June 2024.

This month kicks off another year of Mr. Clougherty and I getting together for dinner. We have done this tradition regularly since 2013. It’s just a nice way for these two longtime friends to catch up. We’ve known each other since I started my first day of high school back in 1996. I was a student of his and also assisted him on the swimming team. He helped me to become a better person and being on the team with him helped me develop better social skills.

Even as I graduated and moved on in life, our friendship has never died. I visited a few times for practice and he always tells his freshman swimmers about me. Our first meal together this year will take place on April 27 at Oliver’s Pourhouse. I have a slate ready to go for 2023 on where to eat. Since the swim team just had their banquet Sunday, I might add Rizzo’s to that list too.

Finally, I took advantage of the beautiful weather on my two days off last week to go see the Super Mario Bros movie. I talked about that more in Friday’s blog. I got a nice walk in on Friday at Twin Lakes and drove out to my happy place; my little Hallmark town and little Stars Hollow, Ligonier. I watched the world go by from the Diamond, had an ice cream cone from the Ligonier Creamery, and thought about all the fun things I want to do.

It’s a side trip but it’s nice to getaway once in a while. I got some sun on Friday and it’s probably the most time I’ve spent outside in quite a while. I hope to make it to a Night Market or Country Market some time this summer as well.

We all know who Mario is. He’s one of the most recognizable characters in history of video games. The industry will forever be indebted to him and to Nintendo for saving it from going under following the video game crash of 1983. If you don’t know who Mario, Luigi, or Donkey Kong are, then you are living under a rock.

I recently saw the latest Super Mario Bros. Movie and will be giving my review of the film. I promise no spoilers but a six pack of facts related to the movie and the character himself.

1. This isn’t the first Super Mario Bros film to be released in theaters. There was a live action film that came out in 1993 which was a box office bust. While this recent one is geared more towards children and even adults, it’s definitely the better of the two.

2. Many of the games we all know and love are referenced throughout the film, as well as the characters. Examples include Donkey Kong, Super Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart.

3. There were various cartoons and live action shows based on the Super Mario Bros from 1989-1991. They contain animation errors that are talked about on social media and in gaming chat rooms. Some have even spawned famous internet memes (e.g. Mama Luigi).

The live action show aired in 1989 and starred former wrestler “Captain Lou” Albano as Mario (he also did the voice on the cartoon). The cartoon had enemies from the first two games and the next two had enemies from their respective video games.

Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World both aired on NBC 🦚 Saturday mornings in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

4. A book was released in 2018 on the history of Super Mario and covers all the classic games from the original NES version up to New Super Mario Bros U for the Wii U in 2013. During that same time, another book like that was released that covers the history of the Legend of Zelda. I wonder if one will come out that covers Mario Kart‘s long history.

5. Donkey Kong is where Mario got his start. Originally he was referred to as Jumpman. He didn’t come over to Nintendo until 1985.

Also, Super Mario Bros. 2 is not the original sequel to the first game. That one came out in 1986 and was released only in Japan because it was too hard for most people. It would be released as part of the Super Mario All-Stars package on the Super Nintendo in 1993.

6. I got my Nintendo in 1990. I was eight years old and in second grade at the time. That year for my birthday I also got Super Mario Bros. 2 (the one we know and love or hate). For Christmas, I got Super Mario Bros. 3. To this day, it’s still one of my favorite Christmas presents and one of the best Super Mario games of all time.

As for the movie, I thought it was very good. A little weird at the beginning but that was shaken off pretty easily and we got a great action packed storyline. Two thumbs up and 3.5 out of four stars.

This recap blog and look ahead is a little bit late coming to you as I am typing it on the 9th of April. Content was a little hard to come by in March and with other things going on at home, I didn’t feel up to blogging much. But, that’s not to say that March wasn’t eventful.

March was the beginning of the major speech contests in our Toastmasters District. The Area round wrapped up early in the month and it was time for the Divisional contests to begin. They ran every Saturday from March 11 to April 1. Due to my schedule, I only attended one contest, the March 18 Division A contest in White Oak. There were some hiccups in the beginning but, after those were taken care of, the contest would run smoothly. Best of luck to all those competing in the April 15 District Speech Contest which will be held alongside the conference at the Doubletree Hotel in Washington, PA.

Continuing with Toastmasters news, on March 15 I agreed to serve as the President of the Greensburg Toastmasters chapter beginning July 1 when the 2023-2024 Toastmasters year starts. I also have plans to attend club officer training, or Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI), on June 24. The training will be held at Westmoreland County Community College, its usual spot, and will be hybrid (online and in-person).

After a year and a half away from church, I returned to Cornerstone Ministries at the end of February. I started attending regularly and enjoyed a great sermon series on the book of James, encouraging us to be doers of the Word of God. A new series begins Saturday night, covering the book of Acts.

I made a couple of visits to Children’s Hospital to visit Benny. His health is improving little by little. We had to cancel our trip to Delaware which was scheduled for the second week of June to give him time to heal. I moved my work vacation back to September due to the trip being cancelled and will likely do some fall-related activities. Last year was my first paid time off from work since the summer of 2007, when I was employed by Kings.

Looking ahead to April, our conference will be coming up this week. Even though I will not be attending in person, I will be there in spirit Saturday to cheer on Greensburg Toastmaster Jim Teague as he competes in the District Speech contest. He hopes to advance to the World Championship of Public Speaking this coming August. Along with club officer training this Summer, I also hope to attend the 2023 Fall Symposium.

The Super Mario Bros. movie is out in theatres now and I will be planning to see it sometime this week (either Thursday or Friday). Even though it’s technically a movie made for kids, I consider myself a kid at heart and still enjoying playing Nintendo. The film has some great voice actors in it as well, with Chris Pratt, Jack Black, and Seth Rogen all having main roles. My review of the film will be up this week as well. I’ll make sure I post no spoilers either.

This week marks one year of Duolingo for me. I started doing it on April 10 last year and in the beginning, taught myself Spanish. As the platform changed, I also began to teach myself other languages, moving away from Spanish and on to French, Italian, and German. When I hit 365 consecutive days, I will get another Streak Society Award. Duolingo is a great tool to work with if you want to brush up on your foreign language skills. They do send you reminders to do your lesson though, which can either help you or annoy you.

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of me getting into Slippery Rock. I did something nice to celebrate ten years back in 2013. I was in town for a friend’s memorial service; afterwards, I took the time to finally appreciate my experience there. Coming to the blog throughout 2023, look for posts that take a look back at my college years (Hiram G. Andrews Center included) and give praise to the Rock. Recently, I posted about College Transfer Day and how I decided on going to Slippery Rock (over IUP and other schools).

After some time away, I’m ready to get back to my writing and back on the road to 500