Houston, we have a problem.

So, today has been long already. Woke up, went to the hotel gym, worked it out, showered, packed, and started the long tedious drive to Palm Springs. At first, the GPS took us for a joyride through long beach for a while, until I pulled over and spent a half-hour reprogramming it, then, we were finally on our way. Other than some horrific traffic getting out of L.A. and the GPS continuously falling down from the windshield, I was an uneventful trip. The Kid and I got a chance to rifle through eachother's iPods...so the road tunes were good.
The drive was actually very pretty. I love desert landscapes. Also, living in the midwest for so long, I love seeing the windmills. I suppose they sort of remind me of Don Quixote. On this drive, there are hundreds of them surrounding the interstate, combine that with the backdrop of the mountains and it was a little unreal.
I even got a little alone time when The Kid and Chompers took a nap together. Have I not mentioned Chompers? He's my black chihuahua, running buddy, and travel companion. Normally I'm a big dog kind of person, but Chompers can get on a plane with me and I can sneak him into anywhere (including the hotel I write this from.)
When we finally got to Palm Springs, we checked into the hotel and ran out to get sushi since we haven't eaten all day. It was delicious. I'm never sure if it's the sushi I love or the Sapporo and Sake, but it always seems to cure whatever ails me.
Now, we're trying to decide where we're going tonight. The Kid's first gay bar was The Escape Lounge the other night, apparently, so we're out to pop his cherry. Hopefully, stories to come!

P.S. Song of the day: Ampersand by Amanda Palmer.
P.P.S. Quote of the day (thus far): "The good news? We're almost there. The bad new? THe GPS just fell down again, hit something on the dash and we just lost all electrical. Oh....and we're going 75 during rush hour."

280 Blog Hits, 350 miles later.....

Alright, so all you perves still logging ont0 my blog out of curiosity about that idiotic craigslist posting...you should be sooooo happy to know that this blog received about 280 hits since it was posted.
I hope you have severely enjoyed the "lurking" because I'm over the sketched out part. If you're all so desperate and lonely that you feel the need to log into craigslist in hopes that some stranger has a crush on you, I'm sure you're bored enough to read my blog. So, please....keep reading. I'm happy to provide an entertainment service for those who so desperately need it. Just please, don't take the stalking past this point. I've filed enough restraining orders in my life, I don't need any more.
So I dragged the new kid along with me to L.A. tonight. Despite my GPS attempting to take me the most fucked up paths here and having to reroute ourselves a couple of time, we made it with surprising ease. Nothing like a 5-hour car ride to get to know a virtual stranger. I can totally deal with his taste in music too...which is rare, especially in one so young. Driving at night is a fav of mine as well. Empty roads, too many cigarettes, Red Bull and my tunes usually carry me through "The Drive", but, for once, it was nice to have the company.
Right now he's asleep on the floor besides my King-Sized bed because he was too shy to share it. Cute kid. Thankfully, we have a suite in Palm Spring tomorrow night, so I won't have to feel guilty about him sleeping on the floor. Though, he did admit to being some percentage Asian tonight, and they sleep in drawers, right? So, it can't be so bad. JKJKJKJK
He's so new to the game, it's kind of refreshing. I miss contantly feeling the unbelievably invigorating feeling of doing anything I haven't before. Now, I have to chase that feeling with all my might. When did I get so old that I feel like everything is so old that I'm over it? So many experiences have turned into mundane, stale moments when I can do nothing but yawn and roll my eyes. Some times I wish I was younger, sometimes I wish I was less intelligent, and sometimes I wish I hadn't been around the block quite so many times. Probably why I get a kick out of hanging with the Z Generation. That's right, I'm coining the phrase right here and now. They say Gen X ranges from 1961-1982. They say, that I'm of the Generation Y. Which has been coined as a term but of which dates have not been defined. Well, I'm here to define them; Gen Y:1983-1987. We are the kids of the "baby boom echo". Things change in society so much more rapidly these days thanks to the global market place and the prevalence of technology and internet, that it only makes sense that "generations" would decrease in size significantly.
Gen Z , which I'll estimate as kids born 1988-1994, just for argument's sake, they fascinate me. My niece will turn 17 this week and is firmly part of that generation.....17, or in The Kid's sake, 21.....absolutely no difference in interests, fads, or general life outlook. Hell, maybe I like the Kid because he reminds me of my niece but he can go to the bars with me? Not that he drinks...yet (yeah, that fresh).
Oh well, I'll elaborate on the subject later, as it's nearly 3:30 AM here. Tenative plan for the morning; Wake up, Go to gym, Go for a swim (weather is fan-fuckin-tastic here), Get Ready, Lunch, WeHo for a minute maybe, then driving to Palm Springs for the night for the hell of it. Drive back Saturday after a quick, long-overdue trip to Ikea (I need light fixtures. lol)

So, Love, Peace, and Afrogrease Motherfuckaaaaaaaaaaaaas. Goodnight ;)

P.S. Remember, every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten. Please! Think of the kittens. ;)

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now

As I was driving through the senseless rush-hour traffic on an even more senseless errand, I got to thinking. People always ask why I would want to live in Central Vegas and not in the suburbs (usually with an air of distaste). I'll tell you why; I like living close to the action.
Those same people are the ones who find a reason to have to drive into my area of town nearly every day. So, they get to put up with the bullshit traffic and THEN drive all the way out to their homes at the end of the earth on top of it.
I like that anything I could possibly want is within a mile radius of my house. I like that if I happen to drink too much, it's a $5 cab ride home and not a $60 ride. I like that I'm readily available to all my tourist friends who come into town and I get get to the airport in 15 minutes, or to the Strip in 3. I like that I can get any kind of ethnic food delivered to my door morning, noon, and night.
I'm not trying to raise a family here, people. I'm trying to live a life. So, suburbanites, FUCK OFF. I'm a city boy, always have been and always will be. ;)

Stalkers....

So Laura just called to inform me that someone found my blog and my Twitter and posted them on Craigslist. Is this not getting a little insane? On one hand, it's a little flattering. On the other, it's kind of scary. I'm going to have to up the security on all my accounts now. Wonderful.

I only photograph my facinations....til the stress of the flash...makes them fade....

I'm going to make this a short one, since I should have gotten up early, gotten my shit done and have already been out the door and on my way to L.A. Thakfully, Dakota already said she was busy tonight with work, so there will be no let down there. I should really call my family in WeHo but, considering it's a one-night limited engagment, I think I'll pass. So much driving to do, so little time.

So, I lied. I went back to the ghetto gym yesterday. It's just so much closer. That.....and it deflects my craigslist stalkers. It was a good workout. I love my new shoes. I totally reccomend the Nike Free line to all the gym-bunnies out there. They are so light! I really bought them for the flexible sole. SInce I usually run for an hour and a half, my feet tend to cramp when they are stuck in one position, but since they were now free to move naturally, I had none of that. Check it out, bitches.

After the gym, I met up with Laura and Brent at The Joyful House. I love that damn restaurant. It's a bit off the beaten path, but it's the best Chinese food in town. I read about it in Details Magazine shortly after I arrived in town, and decided to hit it up. For some reason, it's hard to find good Chinese here. Thai? No problem. Chinese is just touch and go. Plus, they are open until 3AM....so even those with the Vegas schedule can hit it up.

They along a friend, visiting from their hometown. They were right, Erie, PA must be a god-awful depressing place. No wonder they moved. I also invited along a kid I'd met through my adventures online. I won't name him yet, let's see if he sticks around. He's a nice kid. Only 21, moved here two weeks ago for school, doesn't really know anyone yet and was getting homesick, so I invited him along to meet the other newbies to hang out. He was so quiet, but I probably would have been too, considering we were complete strangers and all at least 5 years older.

After dinner, Laura dropped their friend off at Bally's and Brent, the kid, and myself went over to Escape Lounge...again. Laura met back up with us shortly thereafter. It was the same old Escape Lounge. Although the kid was trying to test my music knowledge and failed miserably. Everyone always makes fun of the fact that I know most music...and usually can name the band, song title, and year of release without batting an eye.

It was a good night, in all. It was fun meeting someone new and Laura and Brent are quickly turning into besties. I have a fondness for picking up strays. Thankfully, Vegas is full of them. It can be a tough town to make friends in, at first. The most important thing for any Vegas Newbie to know is to diversify. It's too easy to get all caught up in one group of friends when there are so many different kinds of people out there.

I went home and watched Glee on DVR. I was right with my initial impression. It kind of sucks. I can't even remember what the storyline was about last night. Just not a grabber. The gays and teeny-boppers better get on this one fast before the rating throw it off the air.
I forgot to DVR the season finale of Leverage. FUCK. Now, I'm going to have to wait a few days to view it OnDemand. I love that show, although, mostly for Parker. She cracks me up. She has the best one-liners!

Ok, sorry to keep it brief but I have to get truckin'. I'll try to update from L.A. later tonight. I'll attempt to post a vid I made loosely based on characters here. Enjoy!

Here's the link anyway. I'm too hurried to bother figuring it out.
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090904220426323

Crosswords are the Most Fun You Can Have Without Passing Out

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Wasting Time....

I've put entirely too much time and energy into creating this blog today. Between the blog, the profile, etc...I've wasted about 4 hours. Way to go! Of course, I just realized it was four hours, so apparently, I was captivated. I call moments like these my OCD moments. I get started on a project and I just won't stop until it's done...and to my satisfaction. Being the tough boss that I am, sometimes it's time-consuming.
I woke up at 8AM. My head was still whirling with thoughts of the needless drama of the past couple of days. When my mind starts working that early, there's no point in trying to quiet it, so I took to the day at hand.
First, I started by texting with Dallas. That went back and forth like a ping pong ball until the information we were trying to convey called for an actual voice conversation. It's funny that in this day and age, unless it's horribly complicated or important, we rarely pick up the phone any more to make a call. We've all gone to texting and e-mailing instead of real human interaction. I can't decide if the technological simplification of the world is making us more efficient or more stupid. How can we come down on slang, ebonics, etc. in this country when we, ourselves, abbreviate everything through our writing? No wonder kids aren't strong spellers and our illiteracy rate is so high. Why spell it out when you can abbrievate? Why not watch a podcast instead of reading a book? Why not get on youtube.com and watch a tutorial on a how-to instead of simply reading and following the directions?
Anyway.....excuse the tangent....
I called Dallas to talk. It was around 11AM her time and she had just woken up and was in the middle of her cereal. We chatted about a great number of things; gossip from here in Vegas, how her new life was going, how her man was treating her, etc etc etc. What should have been a 10 minute phone call ended up being a 2.5 hour long meeting of minds.
We talked about growing up mostly. Not as children, but now as adults. They say that they 30s are the new 20s. I certainly hope so. I feel like I grow up more every day. I'm not a huge fan of stability, obviously, but I do look forward to that point in life when I can stop questioning everything so furvently. So many unanswered queries about life, love, friendship, death, and happiness remain. I just pray that I live to have them answered. I understand that life is a mystery, I wouldn't take that away from it for anything, that's half the fun, but wouldn't it be nice to at least get the outline of the puzzle?
She did repeat a few things offhandedly that a non-friend had said about me in the past. Normally, I might have been mad or offended but hearing those words did seal the decision I made last night to further my distance from this person. I suppose that's the downfall you face when you befriend someone in Vegas. There's always the chance that their friendship is really that gold paint and neon lights and underneath, it's something really ugly. I suppose that's true of anywhere really, but Vegas is prone to the duplicitous, no surprise there. He was born and raised here, so I suppose it's fitting that he be one of the worst culprits.
The older I get, the less time I can stand to waste on ingenuine people. Authenticity is a big thing with me. Raised in the enviroment in which I was, I grew up with lies and fronts, and gossip and I really used to be able to play along when I was younger. However, I've lost all taste for the subterfuge and I'm much more rigid about letting it anywhere near me. I like drama on my television, not in my life.
My decision to distance myself from this person was not made in a single wrongful act, mind you. It was a slow accumulation of many things since I first arrived in town. I don't throw people out of my life on a whim. I've just seen too many glimpses of what hides behind his facade; to see what kind of person he really is. It's funny, now that I've taken all this time to consider it and plan my course of action, mutual friends come forward to tell of all that has happened when my back's been turned. Again, somehow not hurtful, but encouraging of my intuition.
Last night, some of us were discussing the meaning of friendship. I find it a bit sad that it's a topic that requires debate. We all agreed, however, that friendship shouldn't involve any drama. There should be no jealousies, no "popularity contests", no stabbed backs, or boyfriends stolen. It should just be about commaraderie and fun. We should all love eachother for who we are and not try to assimilate everyone, nor should there be any politics or chain of command. I don't even have a steady job and I'm still too busy to play these games. I really don't know how one would work full time, attend school part time, and still find the time to play World of Warcraft against his friends.
But...alas....I just take a deep breath and keep on truckin'. Ain't never gonna stop me. Ain't nothin gonna hold me down.
I should really get to the gym. It's much later than I had originally planned to go. I'll get there right around the busiest time of day at this point. I'm sure it will be twice as busy considering it's the first day coming out of a holiday weekend. Those who overindulged will be lined up for machines to work off their sins. Me included, I suppose.
It really was a wonderful weekend. The ending was a bit marred due to the drama but I suppose I should have forseen it coming, as the drama was officially back in town from LA. The highlight of the weekend, of course, being the Foam Party at Krave on Sunday night. I hadn't been to a Foam Party since I was barely of age and it happened to coincide with one of my favorite nights to go out; the night before Labor Day. Everyone of any importance came, save Michael who was visiting family back in Michigan.
It was slick, it was soapy, it was slippery and it was SCANDALOUS. I should have known it would be simply from the attire I had chosen. All I had on were flip-flops, a green Diesel tank, and a tiny pair of JM black square cuts. Right around the time a married friend of mine saw a horny little twink unabashedly cop a nice long feel on my package, I knew it was a night to go down in the history books. Laura and Brent were especially enthralled as it was their very first Foam Party and still so new to Vegas and its nightly debauchery. I haven't had that much fun since I was a kid. We danced so long, we closed the club down. Next thing I knew, I was driving by the Palms at 4AM, still soaking wet and sticky, and glanced in the rearview mirror. My blond mohawk clung in wet chunks across my head like a white, wet mop. The dark and glittery eyeliner I was wearing ran in trickles down my face. I looked like the lost member of The Joy Division. When I got home, I was still so wired that I didn't get to bed until nearly 7AM.
It's nights like these that bring me back to reality. I've already lived enough for a lifetime, so I have a hard time remembering that I'm only 26 and I still have plenty of wild nights and early mornings ahead of me.
Yesterday was mostly uneventful. I got up late (obviously), around 1, and did a few things around the house, ran to the market, made a giant fruit salad (one of the great advantages of living in the west this time of year. Awesome produce.), then got ready. I dropped Nathan at the airport for his business trip, then went to a couple's house out in Henderson for a cookout/pool party.
I hadn't been to the house before but I was impressed by the decorating and the eclectic taste of the home. The house actually ended up proving me wrong and Nathan right (he's been trying to convince me that we need to buy a place with a private pool.) The weather was absolutely divine, so it was quite comfortable outside.
I did have a brief yet comforting conversation with one of my friends, though. He's a recent inductee to this group of friends and I don't know him all that well but he does have a nice vibe about him. We got into the conversation about being married. As the only other gay, married male I've had any length of discussion with in a while, his views piqued my interest. It was really about how marriage is never perfect. One falls in and out of love with their spouse over and over like a broken record as the years go by. There are good times, there are bad times, and then there are the comatose "zombie" times. It's all about sticking with it and riding out the storms until the next happy time.
I think we were all programmed with those damnable fairy tales as a child. Somehow, instead of any idea of hope and romance, as intended, we got these unrealistic views about how love, romance, and marriage are supposed be. We were supposed to grow up, meet a nice guy/girl/whatev and fall madly in love and get married and live happily ever after. I suppose that's why they are fairy tales....they never tell you about what happens after the marriage...all the trials and tribulations that marriage can put you through....all of the compromises and sleepless nights...all of the responsibilities that come with taking on a lover as a constant companion to row through life with.
Yes, there have been hard times in my marriage. My mother once told me that the first 7 years are the hardest. Silly me! I'd always heard that the first year was supposed to be! Honestly, I don't see the hard times ever ending completely and that's alright..I'll stick around and weather it all. My husband and I were talking, just the other day, about those moments when we think of how ideal being single again would be. Then, we agreed that any further thinking into the subject ruled it out. It's those little things you think of....laughing as he attempts to help me make dinner......crawling into bed at night and drawing his body close for the warmth and comfort.....trying a new Thai place and discovering as he realizes a "10" is really a "10" and watching his eyes water.....the way he puts his hand on yours in the darkened movie theater.....or even the way that he agrees with you even when you may be wrong (wow, that totally explains my in-laws marriage). It's all those little things that get me from one day to another.
I put the top of my convertible down as I left their house. It really was the perfect night out. It was warm and breezy with perfectly clear sky. I could see stars even above the Vegas lights. I listened to Sheryl Crow tell me about how she "dropped acid on a saturday night" as I pulled into Freezone. Monday nights are karaoke nights there and it's been a long-standing tradition to attend.
I never used to sing these nights. I never wanted to. Maybe the living in Canada paralyzed my voice for a while. Sure, I still get a little nervous, especially since I never do the same song twice, but I've started getting up there several times a night when we've gone these past few months. I forgot how good singing feels. When it's right, it strips through all the bullshit and you feel all the sorrow and pain leave you with those lyrics. If only I could use my own lyrics, right? I desperately wanted to sing Bad Reputation by Joan Jett but alas, it was not on the menu. I settled for Maps by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Fast Car by Tracey Chapman. Fast Car always reminds me of my sister, we used to love that song as I was growing up.
It was a good night, despite the passive-agressive drama and the "Tale of Two Cities" atmosphere that occured between the seperation of the two tables. Jay-Z said it best, "Niggaz is crazy baby, don't forget that boy told you/Get, that, dirt off your shoulder"

Well, I'm off to the gym....and the crazy stalkers who post shit about me on crigslist, I suppose.