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Hello I'm Rich Brown and this is my personal website and blog. I'm just your simple, average, down to earth, professional, out gay man and aspiring circuit boy, living in Phoenix, Arizona with a few things to say while trying to find my place among all the scary, conservative, religious nuts in this sick and twisted world.
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Monday, November 28, 2005 |
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The Night Before Thanksgiving
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@HOME. Twas the night before Turkey day and we decided to meet up with the boys (Bruce & Tracy, the PB Loco Boys, Brian & Arnie) at Hamburger Mary's for a bite to eat and a little drinky-drinky (not me of course, since I was still on the wagon ... note the correct use of the term 'was' here)
We ate, drank and were Mary. I started out with water to which I got crap AGAIN from Anthony. That bitch didn't think I could stay sober. Well I'll show him! I was sober for at least 30 minutes before I finally gave in ordered the Cherry Vodka Martini. Upon delivery of the drink to our table, Anthony looks over at me with a sly grin, and simply says "Welcome back Gurrrrrl" God how I love my supportive friends.
Following dinner we grabbed our purses and headed over to check out Homme. Now mind you that place was formerly known as Johnny Mac's or the 'glass coffin' but underwent a renovation and rebranding a few months ago. None of us had been there so we figured we'd check it out. I guess it should have been a clue when we walked in the door and this really old woman at the bar yelled out "where did all these people come from ..." I guess she was elected the welcoming committee for the night.
 
 
We had a drink, checked out the new lounge chairs, took some photos and then headed out. Bruce, Tracy, Brian & Arnie parted ways to hit up the Padlock while Justin & I and the PB Loco Boys headed to Charlie's. Charlie's was fabulous as always and on our way out the door we even ran into Darin and Chris.
 
Chris was looking as handsome as ever, but Darin, well lets just say he was just a little intoxicated, but that's not really different from any other night so no surprises there. We said goodbyes to Anthony & Keith and stayed to talk to Chris & Darin for a bit before heading out.
I do have another video of Chris & Darin in the parking lot this time. This video was supposed to redeem themselves from the last scandalous video. I'm not sure if it did or not, you be the judge. Cheers!
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Thursday, November 24, 2005 |
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Happy American Turkey Day
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@HOME. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Justin and I slept in today and now I'm on my way into the kitchen to whip up some of Momma Brown's famous artery clogging, holiday potatoes. We're headed over with Mark, Andrea, Trisha and Baby Andrew to Cameron & LeAnn's house this evening for Turkey Day.
 Labels: Holidays
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Wednesday, November 23, 2005 |
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The Joy of Ass Wipes For Adults
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@HOME. So I was at the store last week and I was determined to find something better then your average, every day 30-grit toilet (sand)paper. My ass really is a thing of beauty and it deserves to be treated like princess, not an unfinished particle board. I mean seriously, they've had all kinds of baby wipes forever, but nothing for us adults except for adult sized pampers. (And NO I don't need them yet, contrary to what you may have heard or my friends might say!)
So, with the goal in mind of finding something nice for my ass, I headed straight to the baby section. On my way I kept thinking there has to be some sort of flushable wet wipes in this aisle. I was determined to find something. After searching the shelves for at least 10 minutes and finding nothing except baby butt wipes you CAN'T flush (that's just freaking disgusting, ok, what the hell are you supposed to do with it? Put it in the HazMat can next to the toilet? Seriously people!) I happened to look on the top shelf and this happened to catch my eye ...
Is this what I've been looking for all this time? Is this the moist wet towlette that my ass has been craving again since diapers? Ok well not quite but it was #1 wet, that's a plus, and #2 flushable, that's another plus. The downside you ask? Well it was a refill pack by Pampers meant to fit a cute little froggy box especially made for potty training children. Kan-doo ... hmmmm, well I already CAN-DO so I'm not sure about this one. I just couldn't decide, do I get the froggy box or not. After much deliberation I decided to give in and not get the froggy box, but pick up two packages of Kan-do to try out. I was proud of myself achieving my goal. I quickly hid them behind my back and continued to shop.
I don't know how it happened but somehow I ended up in the paper isle. You know, the one with the papertowels, napkins, toothpicks and gritty toilet paper. I forget what I was looking for, but was it fate that led me to this isle? Perhaps, but we'll never really know. What I do know is that I turned my head and VOILA ... there they were, glistening brightly in the fluorescent light, the EXACT item I had been looking for ... flushable personal cleansing wipes (that's Latin for Adult Ass Wipes.)
Were my eyes deceiving me? I had to blink a few times to make sure my contacts were clear. Was I seeing a mirage in my state of ass despair? No, I indeed was not. Imagine, flushable ADULT butt wipes near the toilet paper, who would have ever thought? To top it off they were on sale too, what more could anyone want.
I quickly ditched my two packages of Kan-do's and grabbed two packages of Wet Ones, which I now held proudly in front of me as if showing off a prodigy child. I ran through the store screaming like a giddy little school girl looking for Justin in every aisle. When I finally found him I could hardly contain the excitement I was feeling and my ass was now imagining. "Hey ... look what I found, LOOK WHAT I FOUND ... " I shrieked in excitement. He just stared at me. Somehow he seemed much less excited then me over this monumental find. We proceeded to the checkout ...
[Fast Forward 2 Weeks to Today] ... THEY ARE FREAKING AWESOME. I give these things a rave review ... my MAN-gina has never been so fresh and clean. :-) Seriously, if you thought your ass was clean after taking a dry piece of paper and smearing the CRAP around your butt, well think again my little butt pickers. You'll know better when you try some Wet Ones Flushables. I'd love to include some before and after test photos but THAT'S just freaking disgusting you sickos, so you'll have to just trust me on this one. Cheers!
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Tuesday, November 22, 2005 |
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Life as the Night Manager at the Jack in the Box Drive-Thru
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@HOME. I had a odd thought the other day about this one. Just imagine yourself as the night manager at the Jack in the Box drive-thru.
Let's brainstorm here for a minute. First, think about what type of people come to the drive-thru window late at night / early morning ... probably people who are:
- Getting off work or going to work
- Not working at all
- Getting home from a bar or party (take special note to this one)
- In need of a quick bite to eat
Next, lets try to imagine what state or condition these people are in at the time they hit the drive through. I bet you get some interesting visuals in your mind right? Yeah me too. I bet the night manager has quite an interesting job. Not from the perspective of the job itself, but from the entertainment value of the people that come through. Apparently, I'm one of those people. Well not just me, but Justin as well, I must just be more notable. You see, after the M.E.A.T party a few weeks ago, I decided that I must stop at JnB and get something to eat. Such a smart thing to do at 4 A.M. after a night of drinking right? So here we are, going through the JnB drive-thru all decked out in our military garb with Justin in the passenger seat, hanging out the window, completely passed out (that's another story). I place my order, and pull up to pay. Of course it's the same guy that's there everytime, he leans out to hand me my diet-coke (I like the taste better ok!) and sees Justin passed out and says "Wow ... that guy's really OUT!" I just laugh, nod, smile and hand him the money. So, the next weekend when we stop for a quick bite to eat there again, this time we go inside. Anyway, the night manager is there behind the counter doing some other things while the counter person asks us what we'd like. The manager turns, looks at me, smiles and say "Hey buddy ... what's up? How's it going tonight?" Ok, so I guess I'm either really memorable or I made the wacked out, drunk drive thru freak list. I'm somehow betting on the second one. Anyway, that story was just to get my point across. I bet the night people at any 24-hour drive thru get to see some really interesting people. Cheers!
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Sunday, November 20, 2005 |
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Movie Night in the Burbs
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@HOME. Not too much to report, it was a mellow Saturday in the Brown-Chanley household. The day began with Justin and I sleeping in a bit and then getting caught up on some chores around the house. In the early evening we headed over to the Chandler mall to do some shopping and catch the new Harry Potter movie. On the way to the mall we stopped at Target to pick up some things and then had dinner at Rubios in the mall food court. After a few laps around the mall we walked over to Starbucks, grabbed some coffee and sat out in the courtyard watching people. It was a nice brisk evening outside and was nice to just be out and about. We finished our coffee and walked over to the movie theatre to see about showtimes. It was about 8:50 and there where 2 showings at 9:45 so we picked up those tickets and walked over to Best Buy to kill some time before heading back to the movie. Overall the movie was really good, the special effects have gotten so much better with each move. As for my rating I'll give it a thumbs up, it was about 2.5 hours long and definitely worth seeing. Following the movie we headed home, watched some tv and then went to bed. Ah ... life in the burbs, don't you love it. Cheers!
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Saturday, November 19, 2005 |
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Mellow Night with the P.B.Loco Boys
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@HOME. Last night Justin and I had a pretty mellow night. Andrea called us earlier in the evening to see if we wanted to join their entire family clan for dinner. Justin had just gotten home from work and because I worked from home, I was in no way of being ready to go out in public, so we declined. Shortly afterwards, PB Loco Anthony called to see if we wanted to join him and Keith at Roscoes a little later in the evening. That sounded like a good idea, Roscoes is a nice mellow place to hang out. So I had to get ready and we needed to have dinner before going out.
Now I know you're all wondering what kind of scrumptious culinary delight I whipped up for us, but that's not really how it works here. Even though I love to cook, have had formal culinary training, and probably own more cookbooks then Betty Crocker herself, we never do actually cook. Rarely. Justin dosen't really care to cook and I just hate preparing food for dinner because it seems like so much trouble for just the two of us, so we usually end up eating out somewhere. Tonight was no different, off to grab a quick bite before meeting friends. Anyhooters, usually for us whenever we are going to 'grab something quick' it's not until we're in the car and down the road before we actually attempt to decide. Tonight's menu ... Yack in the Box. Usually we choose something a little better then this, but in lieu of our time constraint we needed something fast. I actually enjoy many of the savory creations at Jack in the Box, which is probably the sole reason my cholesterol is high as well this time. Who can say no to the double bacon cheeseburger cibatta? LOL. Anyway we stopped off there, and in an effort to really try and be more healthy I got a grilled chicken sandwich. Woo hoo, aren't you proud of me? I'll have to admit that I did feel much better afterwards that I didn't consume a 1/4 pound of fatty, greasy beef.
Following our romantic and lovely fast food dinner, we headed directly up to Roscoe's to meet up with the P.B.Loco Boys, Anthony and Keith. We walked in and perfect timing, they must have just gotten there themselves because they were getting ready to walk up to the bar and grab a drink.
In usual gay tradition, when greeting fellow friends, we hugged, we smooched and then became all giddy like a pack of little school girls. Actually this was the first time Justin and I saw Anthony since the M.E.A.T Party and we just started laughing uncontrollably about how ridiculous and completely out of control we all were that night. I had forgotten Anthony had his camera with him as well and he had some, well lets just say interesting, photos to share with us. Perhaps I'll show some of them on my blog one of these days but I think I'd have to create a wall of shame page first, specifically for his photos.
Very quickly we ended up in front the the bar and I know I said I was going to be good. "Will power Rich, will power ... you can do it", I told myself. I looked around and saw all the people with drinks in hand, and all the delicious distilled beverages of every color and flavor behind the bar. Anthony and Keith were buying the first round, "What would you like?" said Anthony ... oh no here it was, the pressure ... "just water please" I said. And water it was. I promised myself I was going to take a break for a while, and I'm not going to let myself down on this one.
So with my water in hand and the rest of us with drinks we headed over to a table near one of the pool tables. Keith enjoys playing pool so Justin, Anthony and I just hung out at a table and talked while Keith went over and worked the pool table.
Apparently Anthony thinks Keith is especially cute when he's playing pool. Well duh! Who can resist a big strong man with a nice hard wood in his hand. :-P Fortunately for us Roscoe's wasn't that smoky, perhaps they got a new filtration system installed? One will never know, but it was a nice enjoyable evening just sitting and chatting with friends. We all decided to call it quits and head home around 12:30. We said our goodbyes outside and quickly jumped into the car because it was freezing out. I looked at the temp in the car and it said 54 degrees, brrrrrr, winter has arrived in Phoenix, time to get the extra blanket out. ;-) Needless to say, once again was a nice, quiet, enjoyable evening out with the P.B.Loco Boys. Cheers!Labels: P.B.Loco
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MISSED POST: No One Really Needs the Godzilla Pizza
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@HOME. MISSED POST FROM NOVEMBER 19th. Tuesday night Trisha, baby Andrew and Mark came over after the gym to watch Nip Tuck. We decided to order out for pizza. (I know, I know gym and pizza, say no more) Mark suggested we order from Sunset Pizzeria just up the block and get one of their 'Godzilla' pizzas which is a 28" thin crust pizza. So we went for it ... Check it out.
 
When Mark and I went to pick it up they said it was the equivalent to 7 of their medium pizzas. It was a huge, gi-normous pizza. We couldn't fit it through the front door of our house without opening both doors. In retrospect we really didn't need the 'Godzilla' pizza for just 3 1/2 of us. It was good though, we had leftovers for days. Cheers!
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Friday, November 18, 2005 |
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New Website Up!
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@HOME. So I decided to spend a few hours tonight and just get this damn thing done. The new website is about 90% finished and I've decided to roll it out. I'll finish the missing parts tomorrow. I have to say that personally, I really like it. I had the design idea in my head for a while, I just never had time to sit down and do it. The graphics take the most time to create. I really liked my old site as well and this has been the longest I've gone without any major rewrites of my personal site. I guess my Web Design ADD started to kick in and I was just ready for a change with the entire site which let me to this one.
For anyone that would like the technical details, the site is completely written using Microsoft.NET. After I created the site, I also created a template page and customized it for blogger so that my blogger template will match my website exactly. (One of these days I'll use my own server for my blog posts, but I haven't found any .NET Blogging software I like and don't feel like writing one, so for now I'm content using Blogger to post) All the graphics were custom created using Photoshop. I guess that's it. I'm happy to finally have this out for now. Time to get a few hours of sleep. Cheers!
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Thursday, November 17, 2005 |
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Reader Survey ... Too Many Photos?
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@HOME. I have a quick question for anyone that reads this blog. I'm planning on spending a little time soon to re-do my entire website ... layout, colors, information, etc ... which includes my blog. Going forward with the blog, I was just curious as to some feedback on if I'm posting too many photos?
I know the page can sometimes takes a long time to load because of all the photos so I was wondering if this is a problem for most people and if I should not post as many photos in my blog entries? I'd appreciate any feedback. You can leave a comment or email me at rich@cyrek.net Thanks in advance!
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Who Knew Drinking Too Much Leads to High Blood Pressure?
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@HOME. I had a doctor's appointment today and was told that both my blood pressure and my cholesterol were too high. I knew it was coming to this, not to mention the fact that I haven't been treating my body very well lately. I looked up 'major contributors' to high blood pressure online today and one of the top was 'Consumption of High Amounts of Alcohol' ... oh nooooo, none of that going on around here now is there? There HAS to be ANOTHER reason right? Probably not. Like I said I knew it was coming to this.
Anyway, in preparation of my impending bad physical, I started back on a solid workout routine at the gym on Monday, and I've decided to cut down on the drinking and junk food. I've really been living an unhealthy lifestyle for the past several months (ok years ... ), and I just need to adjust things to get myself back into better shape and physical health.
Ugh ... this is going to be difficult because I love to eat and I enjoy my drinky-drinky. Oh well, it's all about will power and moderation right? We'll see, I'll just keep my fingers crossed. Cheers!
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005 |
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My Opinions Regarding A Nonsectarian Government
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@HOME. Tracy over at Skylark's Meditations published an interesting post regarding a man who is an atheist who has spent years trying to ban recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools and is now challenging the national motto, 'in God we trust', printed on U.S. currency.
Now while I don't agree with him trying to ban the Pledge of Allegiance, I do agree with that fact that this country is trying to force religion into every aspect of EVERYONE'S lives. I don't like to get too political on here, mostly because yes, I do have my own jaded views about certain things and I always try to mind myself and respect the views and choices of others. However, this is MY blog and I can write about whatever the hell I want, so I'm going to include my comment from Tracy's blog here just so that if you are even remotely interested you can gain some insight into my beliefs.
"I better not comment, I'll probably get myself into trouble and you’ll all
hate me. Seriously though, I am an avid supporter of separation of church and
state in this country and I believe it was the original intention of the
founding fathers. I was raised Catholic, and I’m still Catholic, but I believe
that religion is a personal issue and should not be forced upon anyone. With
that said, I also believe that because this country was established on the basis
of religious freedom and liberal governance without oppression, these rights
should be inclusive of those who choose both to believe in a God and also those
who do not. I would never impose my religious convictions upon anyone and I like
to expect the same in return, but unfortunately I do believe that’s no longer
the case in this country. Too many people seem all to willing to impose their
view as the only true view and would be just as happy to be rid of anyone who
does not believe the same. It just seems to me that the deeper we get into
intertwining religion into our government, the further away we’re carried from
the original promise of true freedom as a country.
So ... now that I've babbled long enough on this, I do believe that in
order for this country to be a truly nonsectarian country 'for one nation under
God' should not be included in the pledge of allegiance and 'in God we trust'
should not be included on our currency. That’s a personal opinion, and I know
others will agree and others will not. I do agree with Kate that these changes
would represent an enormous financial burden to the country and I don’t advocate
that either. What I do advocate is preservation of our individual freedoms and
don’t think there is anything wrong with a little re-education and even
gradually phasing out old monetary slogans on newly printed money. Only when
people can embrace each others differences and allow people to have the
opportunity to live their good lives without oppression and repression all while
still having the option to choose for themselves in the belief or not of God,
can we be truly free as a society, a country and a world.
That’s my 2 cents worth, or maybe more like 75 cents worth, I’m not quite
sure these days with inflation."
So, like I said before, that's my opinion on the matter, and as we all know, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. As I stated above, I know that many of you will agree with me, and many of you will not. That's what makes this a great country ... the freedom for each of us to have our own opinions. :-) Sorry to get all political tonight on your arses kiddies, I'm off to bed. Cheers!
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Sunday, November 13, 2005 |
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Saturday, November 12, 2005 |
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Blog Updated! 5 New Posts
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@HOME. Sorry for all the posts today, but I'm just trying to get my blog updated with postings and photos. Please take some time to scroll the entire page and check out the 5 new posts, especially Berger's halloween costume that he was so proud of making. That should have me almost updated for now. Cheers!
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San Diego, Coronado Island & Dinner at Joe's
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@ON VACATION. Justin and I spent the day on Tuesday trekking around San Diego and spending some time in Hillcrest. For those of you who are unfamiliar with California Gay Culture, well no fear my little nosepickers, I'm here to help you ... the Hillcrest District is San Diego's gay village. Although visiting there during the day, in the middle of the week, isn't very fabulous or for that matter gay at all. There isn't really much to do except walk around, shop a bit and hang out over some coffee.
 
So ... After having some coffee at the Coffee Bean and doing some shopping at American Apparel, we decided to head over to Coronado Island to check out the ocean one last time before we left to head back to Phoenix in the morning. (And hopefully some hot, uniform clad, navy boys who are stationed there on base as well!)
Unfortunately we didn't see many navy boys, other then a scarce few here and there going for a jog on the beach, but we did get some nice photos of the ocean, the beach and us. Here are some photos of from the island. In the ones below you can see the famous Del Coronado Hotel.
 
Time for a photo shoot at the beach. First Justin ...
 
Now my turn ...
 
 
Isn't that precious. LOL. Ok so following our little walk on the beach and not seeing any semen this side of the donation center, we headed back up to Oceanside for dinner at Joe's Crabshack with Justin's sister Sarah.
 
Sarah's husband Jed is a jarhead (Marine) stationed at Camp Pendleton and is currently out on deployment in Iraq until next year. Sarah's been keeping herself busy with her job as a Recruiter at Rubio's and her passion of horseback riding while Jed is away, but she was glad to have us out to visit.
We had a great time in SoCal hanging out with Sarah. Justin and I both really love Southern California a great deal. We've always talked about moving back to San Francisco someday, but I don't know ... If we ever move from Phoenix, I think Southern California might actually be moving closer to the top of that list. Cheers!
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Del Mar Dog Beach
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@ON VACATION. While in San Diego this week, Justin, Berg and I went down to the Del Mar dog beach. It's one of the few places in Southern California where you can have your pooch off leash on the beach. There were plenty of pet owners with their pooches hanging out and playing ball in the water.
We brought a water training buoy with us so that Berg would have something to fetch out of the water. At first Berg was the only one in the water, but like an idiot, I ended up throwing the buoy too far and Berg didn't see it, so it started to float out into the ocean. We thought it was lost but eventually I saw some people standing in the water out where it floated and I realized that it wasn't too deep at that point, so I shucked most of my clothes and went after it with Berg.
 
It was a really nice California fall day outside, probably about 70-75 degrees. The water was a little cold at first but once you got used to the temperature, it wasn't too bad. There were a lot of other people out in the water as well playing with their kids and their dogs.  
Berg and I played fetch in the water for quite a long time. Let me tell you, that puppy doesn't tire easily. Once he got the hang of the waves he was doing pretty good.  
 
Justin didn't bring other clothes or shoes with him, so he opted out of getting in the water and just sat up on the sand cliffs taking photos of Berg and I. I managed to grab the camera from him for a second so that I could take his photo.  
For anyone who has never been, the California coast is amazingly beautiful. I love the beaches here and to catch a perfect pacific ocean sunset can be a breathtaking experience.  
Once the sun started to go down, it cooled down pretty quickly and I had to put my sweatshirt back on because I was freezing. Berger didn't seem to mind, he still wanted to play in the water. I do want to include these two last photos in my posting because they both turned out so well. One of Berg and I, and another one of my handsome baby himself. 
Isn't Berger such a little model? Lastly, my thanks to Justin for his patience while we played in the water and also for taking some great photos of us. I had a wonderful day with my two favorite boys at the beach, what more could anyone want. Cheers!
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MISSED POST: PB Loco Anthony's Birthday at Corbins
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@HOME. MISSED POST FROM OCTOBER 8TH. So I was scolded severely yesterday by Justin for not posting any photos from PB Loco Anthony's Birthday. I know, I know, bad me! Slap my knuckles with a ruler now. I was in a bit of a rut in October and didn't post all that much, but I'm going to do some catching up now. Anyway, a bunch of us got together back on October 8th to celebrate PB Loco Anthony's birthday. We went to Corbin's Bar & Grill for Dinner.  
Corbin's is located up on Central Ave just between Northern and Dunlap. We've been there before and they have some pretty great food, as well as some good eye candy. It's turning into quite the homo-faggity dinner hang out of the north. But I digress. Anyway the entire event was planned by PB Loco Keith and was supposed to be a surprise. As Justin and I arrived Keith and Anthony were already sitting there. Apparently Keith couldn't figure out a way to stall Anthony for dinner and Anthony rushed him over to the restaurant because he was hungry. So much for the surprise. At least Keith tried, we'll give him credit for that. In attendance for the evening were the PB Loco Boys, Anthony's Sister Lynda and her husband Travis, Brad & Little Keith, Bruce & Tracy, and Justin & I.  
 
 
Following dinner at Corbin's we headed down to Amsterdam / Club Miami for a few drinks. It was a beautiful October night outside and we proceeded to do what we all do best ... hangout, talk & drink! :-)  
 
Anyhooters, we had a blast. It's always fun to hang out with the PB Loco Boys, Bruce & Tracy and the gang. I do have just one last thing to add here.
Notice the striking resemblance of the card in both the photo and description to Anthony? LOL! Luv Ya Ant-Knee. Cheers!
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Berger's Halloween Costume
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@HOME. Berger tried to dress up sneak out and go Trick or Treaking. No Explanation Needed.
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Thursday, November 10, 2005 |
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You Ever Take It Off Any Sweet Jumps?
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@HOME ON VACATION. This actually happened last Friday before we left for San Diego. Let me give some background here first before I share the story. Justin and I have two cars, one of them being an Xterra. We never really drive the Xterra much because it's a gas hog and we carpool to work, so there's usually no need. The only times the Xterra usually gets driven is if one of us is in the office and the other is at home or we are taking Berger somewhere with us. (Thus why we consider it the doggie truck.) Anyway, the registration and insurance were just renewed so the new registration sticker and new insurance cards were both on my desk awaiting to get put on and into the truck. So ... Justin had an appointment with our Doctor in Phoenix and wasn't sure where the new office was located so he asked me to go with him. Because I was working from home and didn't feel like getting ready in the morning to go into the office with him, I picked him up after work in the Xterra and we headed to his appointment. Following the appointment we were pretty hungry and neither of us had lunch. We decided to stop somewhere and have an early dinner since we needed to get home to do some laundry and get things ready before leaving for San Diego in the morning. I suggested going to AZ-88 since it was still pretty early and wouldn't be crowded yet. Justin agreed and so we headed over to Scottsdale. Taking my usual route I turned down Brown into Old Towne Scottsdale and then onto 2nd Ave which leads right into the Arts Center parking garage next to where AZ-88 is located. I pulled into the garage and saw a space right in front, sweet I thought, princess parking! So I parked the Xterra and we both started to get out of the car. "GET BACK IN YOUR CAR"
is all I heard when I stepped completely out of the car. I turned around and saw someone standing behind the car wearing a bike helmet and something slightly resembling a police uniform. I looked down and and saw he had a gun, so indeed it must actually be a REAL uniform I thought, and indeed it was, he was a Scottsdale Police officer on the bike patrol. Anyway I stood there in dismay for a second as he picked up his radio from his belt and began to speak information about my license plate into it. Hmmm ... oh shit I thought, I forgot to put the registration sticker on the plate so must have seen that and that's why he's here. I said to him "Oh ... um ... my car's registered I just forgot to put the new sticker on the plate, it's at home ... " "I need your license, registration and proof of current insurance and GET BACK IN YOUR CAR" he said to me.
So I'm thinking great, I have have my license but both the current registration and insurance papers are at home on my desk. I reach into my pocket to pull out my wallet so that I can get my drivers license out before I sit back down in the car, to which I was really confused about anyway, since we were getting out to go to dinner. "GET BACK IN YOUR CAR ... THIS IS THE THIRD TIME AND I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU AGAIN! ... " he said with hand on his gun looking at me.
Ok well that immediately switched my irritation mood switch to on. It's the little things that set that one off. This isn't going to turn out well I thought to myself. So as I'm getting into the car I decided to belt out "Chill out man, you need to loose the the attitude!" "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?" he said. "I said you don't need to get an attitude with me it's not necessary, I was just getting out because we're going to dinner here ..." I replied to him. "I don't HAVE an attitude ... I told you to get back into your car three times." he said. "I'm going to dinner here ... that's why I was getting out of my car" I replied. "Do you know why I pulled you over tonight?" he said. "EXCUSE ME? PULLED ME OVER? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT .... I just parked here and was getting out to go to dinner here ... " I replied in frustration.
Ok stop the press. What is this fool talking about pulling me over. He's on a damn 10 speed bicycle. Are you freaking kidding me. Justin and I looked at each other in dismay. "Are you aware that you ran the stop sign at 2nd and Brown" he said. "Um ... I'm sure I did no such thing" I replied. "Sir, you slowed down to approximately 5 MPH but did not come to a complete stop and then turned onto 2nd street, there were 3 of us sitting there watching you" he said.
You've got to be freaking kidding me I thought. Ok, yeah I probably did because I was basically turning into the parking lot on 2nd street, Justin and I were talking and there wasn't a car in sight. And just for the record, it was much less then 5 MPH because I would never blatantly go through a stop sign like that. But apparently I did not bring my vehicle to a complete stop, which yes I'm aware is against the law, and I'm usually pretty concisions about that. I guess this wasn't one of those times though. "Sigh ..." I had nothing more to say. "Your insurance is expired do you have proof of current insurance" he asked. "My insurance is valid, the policy number is the same, the dates are expired and I don't have the new card with me" I said. "Can you check for it sir?" he said.
Ok where the fuck am I supposed to check? Oh yeah, there it is UP MY ASS ... right ... I completely forgot I put it there. Moron. I guess he didn't understand the words 'I DON'T HAVE ... WITH ME' ... I suppose he thought it was impossible that I would really know that I didn't have it and that I should check somewhere for it. "It's not in here, it's on my desk at home" I said. "You don't seem to have your current registration paper either sir" he said. "No I don't have that either, it's also at home on my desk with the sticker" I replied. "Where are you coming from sir?" he asked me. "Um .... Camelback Road ... I don't really see how that's relevant" I said.
He looked at me and then walked away. Maybe I should have said "Happy Hour" or something that would have made this whole situation really interesting, but I didn't. I was already irritated enough I figured it wouldn't be good if I got hauled into the station. The officer checked out some other things on my car, provided some information via radio to the station and then finally brought me the ticket after several minutes. "I'm citing you for failure to stop at a stop sign. If you haven't gone to defensive driving school in 2 years, that's an option for you to avoid having the citation and points go on your record. I'm also citing you for no proof of current insurance which is a fine start at $923, however if you bring or mail in proof of current insurance the citation will be dropped. I didn't mean to give you attitude if that's what you thought but you have to understand that there are 2 of you and one of me, and I was asking you to get back into the car for my safety."
Great, I should have just backed over him and his bike and avoided the ticket, I thought. So I signed the paper stating that I acknowledge receipt of the citations. "You should really get your current registration and insurance in your vehicle" he said. "I'll do that, I don't usually drive this vehicle, I was just just picking him up and had forgotten to get the recent documents into the car" I replied. "Have a nice evening Sir" he said and then hopped back onto his bicycle and rode off into the Scottsdale sunset.
You've got to be kidding me. I wonder what he would have done if I said 'You ever take it off any sweet jumps?' Probably was a good idea that I didn't. Now I'm stuck with a day of $120 defensive driving school to get $137 ticket dismissed. All I can say is that it's my own fault. I guess I'll come to a complete stop next time.
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Wednesday, November 09, 2005 |
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On Vacation
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@HOME. I haven't posted recently because things have just been too busy with work and personal stuff. I don't usually blog while I'm at work and after spending all day on a computer, I don't feel like being on one when I get home.
Justin and I are actually on vacation this week. We just got back tonight from San Diego and Southern California where we took a trip with Berg to visit Sarah, Justin's sister, for a few days.
It was a really nice trip and was great to spend time with Sarah again. We drove out on Saturday morning and stayed until Wednesday afternoon. It's only about a 5-6 hour drive from here depending on traffic. Berg spent some time on the beach and in the ocean and seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit. I have some photos from trip that I'll post soon.
We're just taking the rest of the week to get some things done around the house and relax a little bit. It's nice to have some days that we can just be lazy and enjoy the things we like to do such as reading, blogging, video games, etc. Cheers!
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