this is ridiculous....seriously

ok, so i promised myself that i would try and post at least something everyday or every other day. and then my company put the lowjack on our system so i can't access my blog from work. probably a good thing but damn it makes things extremely difficult. i'm will have to figure this out somehow. so i'm going to catch myself up again and see what i can do. i do enjoy keeping this journal but i've got to figure out a way to keep it up.

- dating -

boy what a task. had a breakfast date with someone i had been chatting with online. i was kind of excited and thought he was as well. we had been chattin via email and phone and had had some pretty good conversations. things were light but always funny and interesting. he's a drama teacher which i thought was pretty cool. he had some inner city school kids that lended some down right hysterical stories that he recited. i love a good ghetto story. anyway, we meet at the restaurant and the first thing i notice is that he has amazing posture. not that i don't, well not always but his was seriously erect. get your mind out of the gutter. anyway, i'm chatting up a storm and he's sort of conversing but i kind of get the feeling he's not really feeling it. so we finish, i tell him i'll call him and head on my way. after thinking about it i decide to send him a little email thanking him for the breakfast (i paid), and that it was really nice meeting him and that i'd like to see him again, but that for some reason i didn't feel him feeling my vibe. so i'm not surprised when i get his response that although he thought i was nice, he didn't really feel the spark, but that he wanted to remain friends. great, just what i need is another friend. don't get me wrong, i love my friends, but honestly, i'm not looking for anymore friends right now. scram drama teacher.

so last weekend before last my friend pedja came into town from atlanta on business. i was very excited to see him because i've really been missing my friends in atlanta and this was the first one i've seen since i moved to LA last July. so friday night we meet in Venice, along with a few of his LA friends and my buddy fava. all nice guys. we head to Roosterfish, which i have to say was surprisingly fun. the last time i was there it just wasn't my scene but there were some extremely hot guys in there this night. but, we decided to head out to WEHO and show pedja the sights. he had never been to WEHO before. we headed to i-candy and had a few drinks. i met a guy who seemed to be picking up on pedja (not his type) but i ended up getting his card. more to come on this one. we left i-candy for a night cap at the abbey. pedja ended up meeting this hottie and things started clearing out so we all headed home, alone. pedja met the guy the next day for lunch but couldn't get him to shut up so that was over before it started.

satuday night i had my new softball team kick off party. love the guys, this is going to be fun. we ended up going off to a bar called fuel in the valley (Noho). let me say right now, i can't stand the valley and here's why. we're having a good time and my phone rings. it's mr. i-candy, the first one, the all nighter, sushi dinner guy. so we chat a minute and i ask if he wants company. sure he says. so i tell him i'll be there in a half hour. now this is why i hate the valley. my ass got thoroughly lost and it took me and hour and a half to get to my booty call. not only did i get cursed out but my ass was seriously lost. i don't know what happened but i missed something somewhere and i wasn't drunk, i swear. we ended up having a good time anyway to say the least. damn is that boy fun!!! it is what it is but i'm enjoying it for the time being.

i'm back.....finally

ok, so now i'm getting shit for not posting. actually, i'm giving myself grief for not posting. i have been a busy fool this past month. then come to find out i can't post from my laptop anymore because the websense has blocked this site. so when i'm ready to post i can't figure out how to crack the system, and when i get home i'm too damn tired to post. but i thought i'd get caught up to today and then keep it going from there.

i'll try to whip through the past month with just the good tidbits.

-went home for christmas, had a so so time. hard to be in the rain for 12 days and not be dying to get back to sunny california. although i did have some amazing moments while i was home. finally came out to some very dear friends, one being the girl i would've married had it not been for the fact that we both knew i was gay. love her dearly and we had some really good heart to hearts while i was home. found out my buddy mitch (who is straight and fine as hell) is having a baby with his girlfriend who i got to meet and absolutely love. hung out with my aunt and got to see her new house, very happy for her. went and sang karaoke with several friends and had a blast. met michael rose, about a hundred fucking times in 12 days. scram michael rose, scram. used the word scram way too many times and continue to use it. but i just love it. had a great time roadtripping with tricia. her parents are amazing and the most gratious hosts. stayed with my dear friend kelly and had some great fun while i was home. thanks kelly for the hospitality, you rock. had a grown up new years eve. went to a late dinner with tricia, and tina, at the hottest spot in town, roux. which just happens to be owned by my friends t.j. and dwayne. amazing food, wine, and atmosphere. here's to 2006.

-back in town and have lots to report on. the boxer meetup group i organize has grown tremendously in the 3 months since i took over the reigns. we're up to like 25 people now and the dogs just love it. the doggy day care crush is officially over. he just wants to be friends, and it's probably best. he has some issues that i'm not ready to deal with. met a really cute smart guy at i-candy a couple of weeks ago. i-candy is the bar from the reality show on the logo channel the new gay tv station. anyway, he spotted me, we made eye contact, and then it was on. long story short, he needed a ride home and i was very kind to offer him more than one ride. good times, good times. i joined a gay softball league and i'm very excited to start playing again. we play on sundays which is awesome and we travel to play in tournaments all over the country. more to come on the team, very funny shit here. work has been great, very busy but i'm loving it. went out on first date with the cute i-candy guy. took him to a great new sushi restaurant called geisha house in hollywood. absolutely amazing. went back to his place and had another round of fun. can't wait for the next round. chatting with a few other gentlemen folks and keeping the options open though. i think i-candy guy is just some fun for now, we'll see. after a dry spell i'm having a great time and can't wait until the next time. and can i just say that i'd forgotten how many muscles get sore after a night of play time. i need to take my skinny ass to the gym so it's not such a big deal. got to hang out with the gang this past saturday night and had a blast. ducats and jt joined us which was a great surprise. had a lot of fun at the straight bar and although i didn't get to meet anyone that night, i was content with just hangin' with the crew and drinking boddington's. my favorite! got suckered into cooking breakfast for the crew at tony and damon's house. how the hell do you get invited to someones house for breakfast and then end up getting suckered into being the cook. well it happened. the breakfast was great, but i was hung over and not in the mood. i sucked it up though. good times, good times.

that wasn't so bad, and i got to dish pretty quickly. see ya tomorrow.

was that really a date?

I’ve got to quit doing this. Again it’s been a week since my last entry and I don’t feel good about it. The week has been crazy though but that is excuse.

Had a great weekend though. Some friends were in town from Atlanta that I haven’t seen since my move. So we ended up going out for sushi with Tricia, the boys Brian and Colin, and their wives, Kristin and Erika. The sushi was awesome and we had a great conversation. I had told Tricia how cute these straight boys were and how nice they are and she definitely concurred.

On Saturday I went to breakfast with Tony as Damon had to work. We met Tricia at the Abbey for food and mimosa’s. Tony and I proceeded to do a little window shopping, which is all it amounted to because I couldn’t find anything and he’s not supposed to be shopping. We had a great time. He is such a crackup. I had a date that night that I was all excited for and was trying to find a shirt to wear but to no avail. Tony dropped me off and I did a few chores around the house and then got ready for my date. Now I’ve been thinking about this guy for awhile now and can’t seem to get him out of my head. Mr. Doggy Day Care (DDC) himself. For those that might not know the stats are 6’5”, light brown curly hair, a nice strong athletic body, not a great ass but it will do. He used to be a track star in college and is a cyclist. So anyway I pick him up and actually brought him a pair of shoes from my company which he immediately put on and decided to wear that evening. His outfit wasn’t to die for but he’s so damn handsome I figure I can work on that later.

So we head out to the party with him following me. Ok, that was my first mistake. Anyway, we get to the party and I introduce him around. Meredy and Fritz have thrown a great holiday party. Great food, interesting guests, and plenty to drink. So DDC hangs out for quite awhile but he had mentioned he couldn’t stay very late because he gets tired early. Ok second mistake. So he decides to leave, I walk him out and get a little smooch but not what I was hoping for. We talked briefly about his status and that he is not looking for boyfriend just looking for hookups at the moment. Ok third mistake. Why do I put myself through this shit. I’ve decided that I need to just let him know how I feel and see what he says. Hell I’m getting to old to bullshit and it’s doing me no good at all. To be honest I thought once I came out my life would change. I haven’t been out all that long, and yes I know my friends have always known, but people have to do things in their own time and it took me a little bit longer. Another story another entry. But I have decided to just come clean with him and see what he says. If for nothing else I would have met a great guy who’s a great friend and just leave it at that.

So he left the party at 11pm and I stayed until 3:30am. I had a blast and the whole gang was there. I’d love to list them but there was just too many of them. Anyway, I have to give a shout out to both Bora and Jenny Lin for showing up late and staying even later. You both rock! Sunday came and I was very hung over and decided to lay on the couch and chill.

home sick

i'm home sick. not homesick, just at home and feeling sick. our company sales meeting started last thursday through sunday and i think i'm just spent. after getting everything ready and checking it a million times, this is one party i wish i could've missed. first we had to show up bright and early to put binders together. now this is supposed to be a team effort type deal and of course the "usuals" were late. by "usuals" i mean, they usually drive you nuts because they don't do a damn thing. show up late, and then take their sweet time to get started. so we're trying to get the sales binders together. basically, the catalogs, updates, etc etc etc, are placed on six foot tables in the order that they are to be put in the binder. you take one from each stack in correct order and then place in front of the three ring binder folks for them to place in the binders. so this one jackass that doesn't do a damn thing at work anyway shows up late and starts fiddling with his ipod. after he gets just the right tune he decides to look through the catalog. this would be fine if nothing was going on, but he's doing all of this right in the way of those of us trying to finish this damn project. finally he gets into the line to help, but he's moving so slow people start passing him. i swear, i wish i would've smacked him in his head and said wake the fuck up. but aside from jackass we finished the binders and proceeded to the next step.

now mind you, i've been preparing for weeks for this meeting. i also had to give 8 presentations. 2 the first night and 6 more the next day. the first one didn't go so hot, as i was handed the info that i was to speak on the day before. it wasn't that it was bad or anything, i just didn't give it the wow factor because i wasn't as familiar with the product yet. but my next one was great, or so i was told. i was funny, witty, and knowledgeable. thank the lord because i don't know if i could've handled another flop. the next day i had to give the same presentation over and over 6 times, which went very well but giving the same presentation 6 times gets a little stale. and throughout this entire process i had to wine and dine the sales group each night and meet with them at breakfast and lunch as well. now i don't mind the wining and dining part usually but when you have to present and be at the top of your game, the wining part is not so good. i did survive however and i think they are please with my performance and view of the future.

but now i'm home sick for the second day with a chest cold and sore throat, and run down and trying to work from home. i think it's time for a little nap.

highlights of a very long weekend

friday was spent lounging around with Tina, Tricia, Damon, and Tony, and Grachie eating leftovers and watching movies all day long. watched "war of the worlds", let's me just say this, dakota fanning, i'm done with you, tom cruise, been done with you, and spielberg, i'll let this one slide.

saturday on the other was another story. Tony and Damon came over early to escape the housekeeper. but they didn't show up alone, they brought Max a few play dates which included, Paco, Rocky, Charlie, and Phoebe, their four little furry friends. Max was in heaven. We decided to take them all to the dog park and let them run loose. I think they had a ball. Tony and Damon had a who throws more like a girl contest, and I think Tony won!

we ended up heading over to the boys house to hang out and have mimosa's. here we go again. Grachie was there, and her new little niece Fiona made an appearance. What a cutie. we decide to hit some crazy ass gay bar in Pasadena call Encounter. we definitely took the place over. when we walked in the door there were only about five people in the entire place. three elder queens and a brotha reading magazines and newspapers and a very butch lesbian named Michelle, who looked as if she had just walked off the court of an WNBA game. quick sidebar. Tony had been giving Damon shit for wearing his mexican pancho and wanted him to change before we left the house. Tony said it made him look like a lesbian. so when we walked into the bar, Michelle says to Damon that she really liked his pancho. we all just busted out laughing, it was the funniest damn thing i've seen in a long long time. we proceeded to to jaeger shots and hit the patio with our drinks. Michelle ended up joining us and was a riot. Shay and Carletta showed up to join us, followed by Tricia and Tina. we got our drink on and then headed back to Grachie's so that she could get ready for us to head to Long Beach. we met Sonja and Crash at some bar to listen to a band and then headed to another spot where the second funniest thing happened. Grachie ran into a guy she had briefly dated who had the gall to ask her if she wanted to date again. wrong move Johnny. Grachie read him the riot act. he'd done some pretty lame things when they were seeing each other so she read him a laundry list or reasons why she would never date him again. which brings us to the third funniest moment of the night. he actually extended his fist towards her in a what's up bro style and said it was cool. go Grachie go. the next bar was much better and we bellied up and had a few more drinks. after leaving this bar to find some after ours we are walking down the street and Tricia has gone to another world. she's dancing around the street singing at the top of her lungs, twirling around with her top falling off over her shoulders, at which time she finds this boom box in the shrubs which she places on her shoulders and proceeds to sing Sir Mix A Lot tunes. dying i tell ya, dying. where is the video camera when you need one?

holiday recap

Tuesday I had to go visit a vendor to make sure my samples are ready for the sales meeting that starts on the 1st. I really think I’ve scared this guy because he’s not as confident as he was when I first met him after starting this job. It might also be that I ask a lot of questions and expect a lot from my vendors in return, but damn. How many times to I have to repeat myself or give you the information in hard copy form for you to get what I want? I swear I’m about to lose it with this guy, he’s really nice, but the nice is wearing thin very quickly. So I drive to his office and meet my assistant there who by the way picked me up a large coffee with cream, and brought a box of donuts for me and the screening crew. What a sweetie. Anyway, since I drove in that day I was praying for some kind of luck when it came to driving home. Ya see, I was cooking for 10 people on Thursday and I still hadn’t purchase my bird yet. So after going to the vendors, driving back to work and then trying to get out of there at a reasonable time to get to the store, just wasn’t in the cards for me. It took me over 2 ½ hours to get home. I then hit the grocery store(s) to pick up the things I needed. When home, unloaded the groceries, made something to eat, and hit the sack. I will say this, I did find a fresh 24 lb turkey that I didn’t have to wait until the next week to thaw out. I strongly recommend this route.

Wednesday we were supposed to have a short day so I decided to go in at 10am and then leave at 3pm when the office closed. So I work my ass off trying to get ready for this sales meeting and get out of the office right at 3pm. Of course there was still some shopping and cooking to do when I got home so I’m praying that the traffic from the night before is not going to haunt me this evening. Are you kidding me? Another 2 ½ hours sitting on that damn freeway creepin’ along. I get to the store, pick up my last minute items and head home to start the cooking. So that I wouldn’t have anything to do but throw that bird in the oven in the morning, I whipped up my famous mac and cheese, and the stuffing/dressing, and had a glass or two of wine. What a clever idea. I can remember the days of my mom busting her ass the night before and me along with her making pies and sides for the next day. Another good nights rest is needed so I hit the sack.

Thursday I get up and start cleaning the house. Since I get up so early it’s really hard to sleep in when I finally have a day off. This of course was typical. I awoke way too early. I let Max out and tried to catch a few more zzzzz’s. After tossing and turning I decide it’s time to get up, 7am is going to be as late as I can go. Much better than 5am though. So I get to cleaning and pretty much whip things into shape. At about 9:30am I decide I’d better start getting ol’ Tom ready for the oven. I get him all washed up, and start stuffing little things into his belly, an onion, some stalks of celery, and cloves of garlic. I whip up a little rub and baste him in a little butter and then spread the rub all over him. And then I get out my most favorite trick, the oven cooking bag. Now I remember my mother getting up at the crack of dawn to get the turkey in the oven so that I would be ready by the time we were ready to eat at like 2pm. Those days are over. For that big ass bird it was only going to take almost 3 1/2 hours which fit my dinner schedule perfectly. I shoved him in the bag, put him in the roasting pan (thank the lord I found a large enough one), and put ol’ Tom in the oven. When he was finished, I took him out and placed the side dishes in the oven for their time. Folks started arriving at about 2pm and we had a cocktail or two and had some apps. Now the thing that I loved about this dinner is that everyone brought a side dish that they love. We had corn, cornbread, green bean casserole, some broccoli casserole, chipotle carrots (kick ass hot but really good), sweet potato soufflé, stuffing, mac and cheese, and my Tom turkey. Let me just say, Tom was grubbin’. Everyone couldn’t believe how moist he was. And to my surprise, the gravy turned out pretty good as well (I always freak out about the gravy). Attendees were, Tricia, Zsuzsa, Bora, Steve, Laurie Beth, Tina, Paige, Angela, Brian (doggie day care crush), and myself. I think the girls were surprised at how damn fine doggie day care was. OMG, I’m just glad he was able to make it. I think they were all beginning to think I had made him up. I got a little hello smooch, and an even better goodbye one. Brian brought a frozen shot concoction and had everyone doing shots of vodka and pep schnapps. So of course he was a hit. Anyway the dinner was amazing and we had a great evening. Can’t wait until next year.

sunday brunch to die for

i can't tell you how much i love to have sunday brunch and get a little party on. this one goes down in history. so Grach and i head over to Tony and Damon's for some grubbin' food and a mimosa. i brought over 2 bottles of champagne and a gallon of orange juice. the breakfast was great, Damon's scrambled egg concoction, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and toast. we cracked the champagne and the day began. now mind you the brunch started at about 10am. after the first 2 bottles were gone, Tony and i headed to the store and picked up 3 more bottles. while at the store my phone was blowing up, Tricia was trying to reach me. i call her and invite her and Zsuzsa over for a little party. now it's one. the girls show up with 4 more bottles of champagne and we proceed to drink them as well. now we're up to 9 bottles gone. Zsuzsa and i head back to the store for 3 more bottles. what, are you kidding me at this point. the funny thing is we are having a ball and no one is really messed up, just happy. we have a little dinner and then decide to give the boys their house back. the girls get this hair brained idea to hit The Cave. i decide that it's 6:30pm on a sunday and my ass is through, i head for home.

let's just say the interesting phone calls i receive the next morning still have me rollin'. evidently the girls went to The Cave, and stayed there until 3am. the stories will go down in history. my question is this, does the cave have a lost and found? if they do, please look for a shoe, a wallet, and a tank top.

but i tell ya, there ain't (oh yes i said ain't) nothin' like a sunday afternoon soiree. can't wait for the next one.