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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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Friday, December 30, 2005 |
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Last Post & Off to San Francisco
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@HOME. Well this is it, the end of 2005. This year seems like it's come and gone with the blink of an eye. I know as you get older time seems to go by more quickly (maybe this is why the elderly drive 45 on the freeway because they feel like their going 80 ...) but this year was ridiculous. It just seems as if Justin and I were celebrating Christmas last year and here we are again now.
In retrospect, this has been a pretty great year. I have so many things to be thankful for and and so many accomplishments that I've been able to complete this year. One of my goals for 2005 was to try and write more. This will be the first time since I started my blog in 1998 that I have an archive file for every month. In the past I used to take much more time away then I do now, which can actually be a good thing sometimes, however I made my goal and I'm happy about that.
This year was also marked with our first big vacation together to Europe which turned out wonderful for us both. We've seen enormous gains in the value of our home, and some nice improvements in our financial situation. This year also brought around the the much needed renovation of our pool, which means no more 'itchy butt' to all our friends. (You guys can all come back and swim this summer, no more reason to avoid us now ... ) And lastly, we've also had some great advancements and gains in our own company this year as well.
So with all that said, it's been a fast year, but also a good one all around. I'm looking forward to to wrapping up 2005 and moving into what's going to be a busy 2006. We're actually headed up to San Francisco for the weekend to spend some time with friends and ring in the New Year, so this will be my last post until next week.
Happy New Year everyone, may it be safe, fun filled and very prosperous for all of you! Cheers!
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Sunday, December 25, 2005 |
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Merry Christmas
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@HOME. I hope all of you received what you wanted from Santa this year because I know I got EXACTLY what I wanted. Santa stopped over at my house for an 'early snack' and I managed to snap a photo of him leaving my room after he finished um .. 'filling my stocking' ... yeah that's it. I know he was on his way over to your houses so I hope I didn't wear him out too bad for the rest of you!
Be good, have lots of sex, drink heavily and have a Merry Christmas!
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Saturday, December 24, 2005 |
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Podcast #1 - Xmas wishes
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I swore to Darin I wasn't going to do this but ... I changed my mind. A girl's allowed to every once and a while ... mmm kay! It's my first podcast. I didn't like it but saved it anyway so here it is.
Click the headphones above to listen to the MP3. Cheers!
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Happy Holidays with A Little Story
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@HOME. Wow only day left before Christmas! It's been an incredibly busy week for me since our party last weekend so I haven't had a chance to write or even sit at the computer for that matter. Hopefully next week will be a little more calm and I'll be able to get caught up on my blog reading and writing.
I wanted to take a second to send out a holiday message to all my fellow bloggers ... May you evil bitches get everything you want, and nothing you deserve ... hahah I crack myself the hell up.
Christmas eve for my family was always a special time for us. I grew up in a small town about an hour outside of Philadelphia. When I was a little boy we would have a late dinner and then like all good Catholics, get together with family and head to St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Slovak Church for midnight mass. Our church was always beautifully decorated and held special significance and pride in our community because it was built by the men of our town, including my grandfather and many of my great uncles, who had come over from Czechoslovakia to settle there. My parents were born and raised in that town and along with most others in the community, never really left, so we all knew each other and we all came from long lines of Polish, Czech, Slovak and Irish family names. There were no strangers sitting next to you in church, they were always either family, friends or nearby acquaintances. One of the best things about going to midnight mass was the carols. Our church choir was made of many of the older women in our community, so all of the carols and music was sang in Slovak. There is nothing more beautiful then hearing Silent Night in Slovak. The one thing I could always count on was the ritual of going to midnight mass on Christmas eve.
As I grew older that never changed, but a few other traditions were added. We would almost always open our presents in the late evening of Christmas Eve. We would get together, head to midnight mass, and upon return, my father and I would go over to my grandparents house who lived right next door to us, which in east coast rural terms means just up the street and across the field. My uncles would show up and all of the men in my fathers side of our family would gather with a drink and toast to Christmas. This tradition continued on with my family even after my grandfather passed away, as my father and uncles would still show up at my grandmothers house and celebrate while my grandmother would enjoy the company of her children.
Things have long since changed now. Most of my family is gone, and the town where I grew up is now more of a Philadelphia suburb and has long lost it's small town charm. Some of the old family names still exist, but many of us have moved on and away. It makes me sad that most of the 'old world' traditions of the holiday have disappeared and the charm of growing up in a small town where everyone knew your name is now more of a myth then a reality. I guess this is life, it evolves and changes right before your eyes. Nothing is ever quite the same as it used to be, and it's the way we choose to live our lives that counts for our memories in the end.
So tonight is Christmas eve and I'll be spending it with Justin, Mark, Andrea and the puppies at our house. Over the past few years Justin and I have enjoyed spending Christmas Eve and Christmas together with a fire going, and opening our presents at Midnight. We've made our own family and our own traditions. I'm looking forward to spending the evening with Mark and Andrea, as we all really have a great time when we're together. Mark and Andrea have become our family, and if there's one thing I've learned over the past few years your family is not only the one you were born into, but the one you've created for yourself.
Well that was my story, a little light into my past. One of the other things I do, for nearly the past 10 years, is send out my annual holiday letter to family and friends. Since I'd love to share with all of you as well, if you want some short reading, here's the 'internet edited' version. (I have to cut some things out for your stalker-like folks ... :-P)
Seriously though, I'd like to wish all my friends, family, acquaintances, fellow bloggers, and blog readers a very happy holiday and a healthy, fun-filled, prosperous, std-free, new year! Cheers!Labels: Holidays
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Monday, December 19, 2005 |
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Party Recap and Recovery
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@HOME. Well as most of you know, Saturday night was our 4th annual holiday party and as usual things went off without a hitch. Poor Justin was sick and in bed most of the week, so he struggled to help me get things ready and make it through the weekend. Mark, Andrea, Justin and I were in the kitchen until nearly 4 am on Friday night getting the food prepared and making jello shots for the party. 
Saturday rolled around and we spent the day finishing up the last little details around the house and preparing the rest of the food. We wanted to be ready to get the party rolling by 8 PM. Mark and Andrea came over around 6 PM to help us get things setup and ready. People started to arrive shortly after 8 PM with a majority of guests getting there between 9 and 11. I think there were a little over 40 people who showed up by the end of the night and we were going steady until nearly 4 AM. Surprisingly our guests were all very well behaved and the party went off without a snag. The only thing broken was a small glass candle holder, and that was by me when I was cleaning up.
Darin decided to take the initiative of getting out the 'silver party tray of death' and serving up some of the 250 jello shots that we made. I believe he did 1 shot for every shot he served because somewhere between finding the bottle of poppers in the freezer and our last round of late guests departing, he ended up passed out in one of our spare bedrooms. When I spoke with him on Sunday morning, his comment was .. "I woke up and didn't know where the hell I was .. at least I woke up with all my clothes on"
I suppose that's a good sign when you wake up and have no clue of where you are. I told him it was really nice of that strange man who was in the room with him to put all of Darin's clothes back on before he left. Haha... he wasn't amused. For the record there was NO strange man in with Darin. I don't even remember when he went into the room and passed out.
The only other party casualty was our friend Steven who lives up the street. He drank too much too quickly, sort of like Andrea at our 2nd annual party a few years back. Justin and I found him passed out on the patio in front of the house, so we grabbed his keys and drove him back to his house which is just 2 blocks away. We have many great photos from the party thanks to Chad who took control of the camera and became the official party photographer for the evening.  |  | | Chris & John | Bruce, Justin & Tracy |  |  | | Steven, Raquel & Victoria | Jello Shots |  |  | | Josie & Erik | Jason & Chris |  |  | | Dan & Paul | Newell & Michael |  |  | | Chad, Darin & a jello shot | Stephanie, Josh, Chris |  |  | | Me and Justin | Andrea & Mark |
We spent most of the day yesterday just cleaning up and relaxing. Mark and Andrea came over in their PJ's and we had leftovers and watched 'Tales of the City' Hopefully the rest of the week will be a tad more timid, but our friend Ron is coming down from San Fran to visit, so we'll see. Cheers! Labels: Holidays
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Tuesday, December 13, 2005 |
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Past and Present Me
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@HOME. Isn't it a bitch when you find old photos of yourself and realize how much more attractive you were just a few short years ago? When I was looking through my E-Mail archives yesterday for my first E-Mail from Justin, I came across this photo of me taken in Nov-2000 at Fort Mason Park in San Francisco. It was taken only a few weeks after I had moved to San Francisco which means it just a little over 5 years old. I was sitting just in front of the San Francisco Bay with Alcatraz in the background.
 2000
God I was so cute and thin, no wonder why Justin liked me back then. I don't think I looked even close to 30 in the photo. Then there's this photo of me at Folsom Street Fair in Sep-2001 with my good friends Philip and Steven.
 2001
Yes that's right, we were all shirtless ... it was hot ok! This next photo was taken (Nov-2002) with my good friend Missy during one of my visits back to Philadelphia.
 2002
I still think I look good in black (doesn't everyone) as it does wonders for slimming the figure. This next photo was taken two years ago (Dec-2003) at our 2nd Annual Holiday Party.
 2003
I know the alcohol is distracting folks, but please focus on the task at hand here, me. It appears that I've aged quite a bit from the previous year. Now last year (Aug-2004) I snapped this next photo of me before I headed off to the gym.
 2004
I was a little thinner then because I was in back in a regular routine at the gym. Funny thing here though is that people always say I need to smile in my photos more. I don't usually smile because is makes my cheeks look chubby. I'm working on that. Now, here's a photo of me that was taken just last month (Nov-2005) when Justin and I were out in San Diego to visit Justin's sister Sarah.
 2005
HOLY SHIT. What happened to me in 5 years? I look like I aged about 20 years. The first and most noticeable thing is that my hair is really turning Salt & Pepper these days. Ok it was Salt & Pepper backin 2000 too, but only Ms. Clairol knows about that secret. Every time I talk to my Mother on the phone she reminds me to "... dye your hair honey, you don't want to look older then you are ..." how sweet of her. I usually reply " ... thank for being such a loving Mother and accepting me for who I am ..." I know she's just trying to help me be beautiful. I actually go through phases with the hair, some days I like it Salt & Pepper, other days I want my old color back. Luckily for me my hair grows so quickly that I can dye it one week and it will be back to Salt & Pepper within two. Oh it's hell to get old.
The second and most noticeable thing is that my face is really filled out now. (I'm being polite to myself here ... I like to think I'm 'filling out' rather then admitting that yes indeed I'm a little piggy at the moment ...) Ok so yeah the truth is I've put a few pounds on since my glory days of going out shirtless in streets and clubs of San Francisco. I keep promising myself that I'm going to really get my ass back to the gym and start working out hard again. I just haven't found that motivation just yet.
So anyway, that's about it, a lovely photo montage of me, past and present. You can sort of see the evolution of how I look now compared to how I looked 5 years ago. I know that everyone ages, and I guess there isn't much I can do about that. One good thing to keep in mind here, and this being the most important part, is that ....
I don't look like this ...
 2003
or this ...
 2003
or even this ...
 2003
Anymore. (At least not since the 70's party at Don & Kris's in 2003) LOL! Cheers!Labels: Random Thoughts
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Monday, December 12, 2005 |
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Happy 5th Anniversary (to us!)
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@HOME. Today is the 5th Anniversary of my first date with Justin. Since we aren't allowed to get married here in the United States, most gay couples choose to celebrate their anniversary date as either the day they met their significant other or the day they became an exclusive couple. This gives couples like us something to be proud of and celebrate.
Rich & Justin, Christmas 2000
The photo above is one of my very favorite photos of us. It was taken at a Christmas Party a few weeks after we met. People always ask us how we met, so let me give you the condensed story ...
It was December of 2000, and just 2 months earlier I had gotten out of 1 year relationship and moved from Phoenix to San Francisco. Justin was a sophomore attending the San Francisco State University and living in a flat in Daly City. He was working at the Sony Metreon Theatres while attending school.
For me, this time was one of the most interesting times of my life. I was single and living in a new city without any close friends or family. I decided that I wanted to meet some people and maybe even try going on a few dates. I never really had much luck meeting any decent people in a bar so I decided to take a look at the Excite Online Classifieds. Now mind you these classifieds were way different in 2000 then they are today. First of all they were free so everyone used them for selling and buying things, second they had a personals section just like the real newspaper classifieds. If you remember just 5 years ago the internet was not yet laced with the flood of commercial advertising so the Excite Classifieds were a really simple text based posting and email system. I think by this time they had just advanced to the point of being able to upload photos to your postings as well.
I remember browsing through these classifieds postings under the Male Seeking Male section as if I were shopping for new clothing. I saw this one posting, and the photo was cute but “19 y/o Hopeless Romantic” was the title. I couldn’t do it. I just turned 30 in October and I kept thinking to myself he’s way too young. I passed it by, kept browsing and even replied to a few other postings. As would become a daily habit, the next day I was browsing the classifieds again looking for any new postings and came across the same “19 y/o Hopeless Romantic” that I had previously passed by the other day. I decided to read the posting. He was really cute, and sounded sincere in his posting, but just couldn’t get the thought out of my head that at 19, he was way too young, so again I kept browsing. A week or two had passed and I kept seeing the “19 y/o Hopeless Romantic” posting from the cute boy. I had all kind of thoughts going through my head like he’s too young, or I’m too old, or he wouldn’t be interested, or pretty much any excuse I could imagine. I was NOT going to be one of these 30 y/o guys trying to convince a 20 y/o how cool I am. I don’t know what it was about his posting but I finally decided ‘what the hell?’ I was going to send him a note. Something brief, just to say to him “check out my website & let’s chat sometime if you’re interested.”
To my surprise Justin replied back to me with his phone number. I called him; we chatted for a bit and then agreed to meet. I found the old emails:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Edge X
>Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 11:29 AM
>To: Banshee/DixonHill
>Subject: RE: Hello
>
> Hey Gator Boy!
>
> Hope you had fun in class this morning! Make sure to get some beauty sleep!
> Well I guess I'll get to meet you tonight. I'm sort of excited -- I hope you are
> as well.
>
> Ok well call me today when you get a chance!
>
> Rich
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Banshee/DixonHill
> Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 12:59 AM
> To: Edge X
> Subject: Re: Hello
>
> Howdy Rich-
>
> I went to your site and read what was on it, and I was astounded. I liked what you
> said. You know exactly what you want out of life and relationships. I wouldn't
> mind chatting more about things, with you. You seem to have your shit together,
> to put it bluntly. Here is my number, if you'd like to give me a call.
>
> If you don't get a hold of me, you can go ahead and leave a message, and I'll call
> you back. So anyway, I hope to hear from you.
>
> -Justin
>
> p.s. - You are pretty good looking, as well.
>
> edgex@cyrek.net wrote:
>
> This is a response to your advertisement on Excite Classifieds.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Male Seeking Male: Long-term, 19 y/o, 6 ft. 3 in. tall
> San Francisco, CA, 19yo Hopeless Romantic
> http://classifieds.excite.com/cgi-cls/ad.exe?P1+C180+R5847727
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Well quite an interesting ad you have. If you would like to learn a
> bit more about me check out my website at http://edgex.cyrek.net
>
> If you would like to chat sometime please email me at edgex@cyrek.net
>
> Have a great day! Rich
>
> *** Thank you for using Excite Classifieds! ***
>
So that night, the night of December 12th, 2000, we agreed to meet at Borders next to San Francisco State. I saw him walking into the store when I was parking and thought he was so cute. We met, went to dinner and then walked the streets of San Francisco. The rest is history.
Justin and I have had our ups and downs over the past 5 years, which I'm sure is the norm for any couple as they learn how to live together and grow together, but I wouldn’t change anything. We make each other laugh, enjoy spending time with each other and I love him with all my heart.
Hopefully we’ll have many more years together to celebrate, and who knows, maybe someday we'll even be able to get married ... legally. Won't that be a great day? My only question is ... if that happens and we get married, do we have to reset the anniversary clock back to zero again? Cheers!
 
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Sunday, December 11, 2005 |
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Ah the Sights of Christmas
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@HOME. Well since today was the last weekend day in which Justin and I could go shopping before our Annual Orphan Alcoholics Holiday Cocktail Party next weekend, we hit the town and finished most of our party shopping this evening.
We got home, unpacked and basked in the beauty of what's to be our bar for the party. Honestly we didn't have to buy much this year because we always usually over buy and have a rolling stock each year. I actually wanted to get more, but Justin assured me that this was probably going to be enough. We'll see, it's his fault if it's not. I just can't help it, as a former bar manager, I love to have a well stocked bar. Nothing ruin's a party faster then running out of booze.
Anywho as you can see we have tons of scrumptious libations to serve. This is our 4th annual party, and even though the invite list is usually kept down to a select few good friends, work buddies and acquaintences of legal drinking age, this party usually gets pretty crazy by the end of the night. Hopefully this year we won't have people passing out in every corner of the house again, because god I hate having to step over people on my way to bed. LOL. Cheers!Labels: Holidays
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Mark & Richard's 20th Anniversary Party
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@HOME. God I feel like all I do these days is post photos from the parties we go too. I swear we aren't al-co-hol-ics. :-P Anyway last night was Mark & Richard's 20th Anniversary Party. I met Mark a while ago as he used to work at Amsterdam and he too was a fellow blogger. Mark & Richard used to live in San Francisco so that sparked a conversation with us about the differences of living in San Francisco vs. Phoenix.
Richard (left) & Mark (right)
The whole gang of us, Chad, Darin, Justin, Bryce, Wayne & Mark met up at Darin's house around 9 and headed over to the party. They had some great food and of course free drinks which always makes for a good party.
 |  | Chad, Darin, Justin | Bryce & Wayne |
They have a beautiful house in Central Phoenix, and if you go through their house to the back yard, right next to the pool they have a great little Casita guest / pool house which had been converted into a fully stocked bar and manned for the party by our favorite former Amsterdam bartender, Tommy. 
At some point in the evening Darin noticed someone who we will refer to as 'Bubble Butt Boy' or 'BBB' for short. Darin decided he was infatuated with BBB's nice, tight, ummm ... pants.
 |  | "Justin did you see that boy's pants?" | "I better go in for closer inspection ... lalalalalalala" |  |  | "So scrumptious, maybe I should sample" | "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" | | |
Good God, we're a mess when we go out, especially Darin. Sometimes I really don't think we should be left alone and unsupervised. So the party seemed like it was a hit and it also looked like Richard and Mark were having a very good time, I'm glad we went! Cheers!
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Saturday, December 10, 2005 |
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Anthony & Keith's P.B.Loco Cafe in Scottsdale
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@HOME. Justin and I stopped by to see Keith and Anthony at their new gourmet peanut butter cafe in Scottsdale. That's right it finally opened on Wednesday and it's called the P.B. Loco PeanutButterLicious Cafe, located at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall on the south side, 3rd floor just outside of Nordstroms.
I've seen Anthony working many late nights on all aspects of this project so it must be very exciting for them both to finally have the Cafe open for business. From what we saw just during our short visit, the cafe was very busy and there were a ton of people coming in to just buy the P.B.Loco peanut butter. Anthony said the past few days have been crazy and at some points they've had a line out the door. That's sooooo awesome!
For those of you that aren't familiar with P.B.Loco, it's probably the best gourmet peanut butter you'll ever have. They have flavors such as Banana, Chocolate Raspberry, Cinnamon Raisin, and a bunch more. Let me tell you from first hand experience, they're all scrumptious. You can get more information about P.B.Loco and the P.B.Loco Franchise from the corporate website.
The cafe itself retails the P.B.Loco peanut butter and specializes in peanut butter sandwiches, smoothies and cookies. It's such an awesome place, and we're really excited for them both.
 
 
The only sad thing for us is that we probably won't get to see them as much anymore because they're both going to be extremely busy with the Cafe for the next few months. I guess we'll just have to stop over and eat there more often to see them. I'm glad that Anthony's sister Lynda (looking radiant above in the green T-shirt) is working with them too, since she'll be able to take a little bit of the pressure off of them both. It's always great to have family members like Lynda who you can count on for help and support.
Anyway, good luck Anthony & Keith, we're all really proud of you guys!Labels: P.B.Loco, Penn State
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Don't Cry For Me Arizona ...
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@HOME. Justin and I just got back from an early show of Evita at ASU's gammage auditorium. This was Justin's first time seeing it, but my second as I caught the show a few years back when I was at Penn State. Eva Peron was one fierce bitch lemme tell ya. This was a really great performance, much better then the first time I saw it, and the house was packed which also surprised me for an afternoon show. One of these day's I'm going to have to catch the movie with Madonna since I've STILL not seen that yet. I know smack my fingers, bad homosexual, BAD HOMOSEXUAL.
So tonight Justin and I are headed over to Richard & Mark's 20th Anniversary party, but I think I said that already last night. We're making our way to Darin's first and then heading over with a few new boys in town. Should be another fabulous evening with some more candid paparazzi photos.
One last thing, thanks for the wonderful feedback about Bobble Head Darin. I was talking to him today about it and I can't wait until next summer with the release of Bobble Bikini Darin. Ahahahahah, I crack myself up. Cheers"!
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Tis the Season For Parties
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@HOME. Justin and I just got back from 2 parties this evening. The first, a holiday party at Erik (one of my co-workers) & his wife Josie's home, and the second, a birthday party for our friend Glibert, at Homme in Phoenix. We went over to Erik & Josie's around 9 and hung out for a few hours hanging out and chatting with some friends. We didn't know many people but it was a nice time anyway. Around 11 we headed up to Homme, one of Phoenix's newly hip & rennovated joints, to catch up with Glibert and wish him a happy birthday.
Justin grabbed a cocktail while I opted for a lighter fare of Fuji bottled water and we headed over to the back of the bar to find Gilbert.
Gilbert looking radiant with his friend & beauty confidant (hairstylist) David.
Like a polite host, Gilbert introduced us to David chatting for a bit and gracefully excused himself to mingle with the rest of his guests. Apparently David is a Phoenix native, a Phoenician for you Arizona outsiders, and desperately wants to move to San Francisco to live and work. David and I were starting to have a nice talk about San Francisco before we were so rudely interrupted by these two ...
In my best Seinfeld voice, "Neuuuuuuman" Actually when Darin walked in I think the bar all yelled "NORM" if I wasn't mistaken. Maybe I was, who knows.
That's right it was Darin and Chris. Imagine seeing them there. *Eyeroll* Actually Justin and I did know they were going and were hoping to run into them. I politely introduced David to them. He must have been scared by them, because David quickly excused himself to move along.
Now as you can see ... Darin decided it was a tad chilly outside so he thought it would be fitting to don his new red scarf with the carefully placed pre-sewn-in hole. This of course was to put one end of the scarf through so as not to fall off his neck.
I will, however, let all of my readers in on the real reason he was wearing his new scarf and the glasses. It was to protect his secret identity of Drunk Man! That's right kids, you heard it here first. Rut ro, look out, someone must have left a 1/2 finished drink on the table over in the corner. Look there, it's a queer, it's a flame, it's an empty martini glass ... no it's Drunk Man to the rescue!
Drunk man made a quick sweep through the room picking up every 1/2 filled glass in sight and quickly finishing that pesky toxic alcohol so no one would be put in harms way and get intoxicated.
In the meantime, Chris decided that everyone in the room had to be informed of proper safety instructions and be shown where to find their nearest exit in case of an emergency, i.e. like the bar runs out of vodka or some other horrid, unimaginable atrocity. (Go Girl with your Green Belt!)
Ahhhh, I kid the boys. Darin and Chris are two of the funniest people I know and they are two really fun ass boy to hang out with. We just stood over by the table taking photos and laughing profusely at ourselves for being so silly.
   
We stayed until about 1 and then we all packed it in and called it a night. Tomorrow we're headed to ASU to see Evita and then to Mark & Richard's 20th Anniversary party with Darin in the evening. Whew, this weekend is like the worldwind tour.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I promised Chris something tonight so here it is my fragile readers, this is not for the faint of heart so put the children to bed, dim the lights and scroll down.
I have a pre-Christmas present for my good friend Darin ...
That's right folks, it's the new Bobble Head Darin. Get em while you can, I have a feeling supplies will be very, VERY limited this holiday season. There's a nasty rumor you can get em Boise in a few weeks. :-) Cheers!
Labels: Holidays
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Wednesday, December 07, 2005 |
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My Top 10 Internet Annoyances
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- I don't need Vi@gra (yet) so please stop spamming me with email about it for at least the next 15 years.
- Just because I visited your website I don’t want to install the Triple-X toolbar, the Yahoo toolbar, or the Weather Bug application but thanks anyway.
- No matter what you personally think, pop-up’s are bad. Bad! Bad! BAD! Leave them off your site please.
- Know the difference between a 'Blog', and a ‘Website’ they are usually NOT the same. (See Note Below)
- Know the difference between ‘MySpace’ and a 'Website', they are NOT the same. Just because you have a URL that points to your MySpace profile, understand that it's not really your website. (See Note Below)
- Just because you can change your ‘Blogger’ or 'MySpace' template, that does NOT make you a web developer
- Just because you know some HTML and can add graphics to your Blog, online profile or web page, this dose NOT make you a web developer.
- Looking at the way people modify their ‘MySpace’ templates is proof as to why ‘Web Design’ should be left to the professionals. PLEASE PEOPLE: Tiled background images have NEVER looked good on a website.
- 'Web Design' does NOT equal 'Web Programming’. If you don’t know the difference between a static .html page and a dynamic server page (.asp, .aspx, .msp, .php, .php3, .pl, .jsp, .java) and you don’t know a an object oriented programming language such as C, C++, C#, Java, or VB (kinda sorta) then you aren’t doing any programming.
- If you’re going to post a profile of yourself online with information, please spell-check and grammar-check the damn thing first. You never appear more stupid then when you continuously misspell and misuse obvious words and phrases in a profile.
NOTE: If you don’t have a set of web pages and either a web server or a web hosting provider then you don’t really have a ‘Website’ you have a profile or informational page(s) on someone else’s ‘Website’ Just because you have a URL which points to a page or content about you does not automatically make that a website. A Blog can be a website if it's hosted under it's own URL, but is usually just part of another website, i.e. Blogspot. (I'll give the bloggers some slack here but please note that there is a big difference between my 'website' and my 'blog', my 'blog' is only one small part of my entire 'website'.)
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Blogging, Web-Logging, & Online Journals
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@HOME. I'm actually sick as a dog right now which gave me a chance to read and catch up with all my favorite Bloggers. I've read quite a few blogs tonight which talked about fake Bloggers, commenting etiquette, etc. Well as for the fake Bloggers, as I said in a post earlier this year (and my senior thesis about anonymity on the Internet), the ability for anonymity online is a great thing which can be either destructive or protective depending on the person it affects or the person using it. I'm not taking any particular side on this, but it's my personal belief that it's just not real kosher to try and deceive people intentionally, but hey it happens, so get over it girls.
As for blog commenting etiquette, comment if you want, but remember no one should ever expect that commenting on a blog automatically deserves anything reciprocal. So many people think that because they leave a comment that it’s expected for the blog owner to view their blog, comment, and even provide a reciprocal link. Newsflash my darlings, people just don’t have time for that shit. Personally I do usually look at everyone’s blog who leaves me a comment, but I only return comment if I find something interesting enough to comment on, and I only provide reciprocal links for those blogs who I find remotely interesting.
Let's talk about the blog-o-sphere here for a minute. I'm always amazed every day at how many people are 'blogging' these days. As I look back at my archives, both blog archives and personal online writing archives, I realize that I've been doing this for almost 10 years now.
[FLAHSBACK MOMENT]
Of course back then there was no such thing as Blogger or a 'Blog.' Similar to now, I simply enjoyed writing about my feelings and the things that were going on in my life. I typically posted my entries as individual pages on my website. I guess that was the advantage of being a closet computer geek early in life. I mean sure there are plenty of kids growing up with an overwhelming technical knowledge these days, but I was online back in the days of the 300 Baud Modem (do people even still use modems?), the Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's) and something called Relay Chat on the Yale mainframe. How many of you remember that? It was actually my junior year at Penn State University in 1992 when the 'World Wide Web' was unveiled and introduced to the world. It didn't look like much then, but I was an early adopter and was one of the first to have a webpage up in the space provided to me by the university. There was no flash, no tables, no xml, no style sheets, that's right pretty much nothing that makes the web of today possible or pretty. Web pages and 'Online Journals' were much different back then.
[/FLASHBACK MOMENT]
Anyway, all these years of keeping an online journal I've kept a few rules for myself:
RULE #1 -- DON'T COMPROMISE YOUR WRITING FOR ANYONE!
Every time I sit down to write I swear to myself that I'm not going to compromise my writing for the sake of anyone else, and I usually don’t. I write when I feel like it, and I write whatever I feel like at the moment I sit down in front of the computer. Sometimes its pre-meditated content, sometimes it's completely on the fly from my mind to my fingers. It all just depends on my mood, but one thing is for sure that I don't censor myself or write for the pleasure of the masses. I write for myself, period. I don’t swear profusely in my blog not because it offends people, but because I don’t swear much personally in real life. I don’t try to be unusually witty or funny in my blog because I’m just not like that in real life. Sometimes I have my moments but usually I’m either serious or more often sarcastic. That’s just me, and that’s the way I write.
RULE #2 - DON'T LOOK FOR SOCIAL APPROVAL IN YOUR WRITING
As much as I love receiving comments from people regarding my blog entries, unless I specifically ask for feedback from my readers, I'm not writing with the intention of receiving feedback in mind. Refer to Rule #1, I write what I want, when I want. I know some readers enjoy reading what I write, while others think it's over the top and even others think it’s boring. I couldn’t agree with all of you more, because some days it’s one of these and other days is all of these, but this is great because these days there's something for everyone out there and if you don't like what I have to say you can always close the browser or click on another link. Adios.
RULE #3 - WRITE WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT
Sometimes I write several times a day, sometimes I go for weeks or months without writing. I've had friends say in the past "You need to write something, you have written in a while." All I can say to that is Refer to Rule #1, then refer to Rule #2, and lastly fuck off because I'm not your daily entertainment. I write because I'm either in the mood to write, share some information, post some photos, or whatever. When I don't write it’s because either I don’t feel like it, I have a real life which I greatly enjoy, or the simple fact that some things just aren't worth writing about.
Ok anyway I’m pretty much done with this posting. I’ve gotten so off track here that I can’t even remember why I started writing in the first place. I think it was something to do with me not believing how many people are blogging these days and blah..blah..blah.
God I'm such a freaking pee-brain tonight. Must be the cold meds, I need to go lay down. Cheers.
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Saturday, December 03, 2005 |
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The Beat Before Christmas
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@HOME. Last night was the 'Beat Before Christmas', a dance music concert sponsored by Energy 92.7/101.1, Red Magazine, and IONAZ magazine. It was held at the Arizona Beach Club in Tempe and featured such artists as Deborah Cox, Kristine W., Lucas Prata. Peter Presta, Amber, and a few others who top the dance music charts. Justin and I went with Keith, Anthony, Bruce & Tracy. It was an interesting mix of all kinds of people, straight, gay, old and young.
Justin, Bruce, Tracy, Keith & Anthony
Justin, Rich, Anthony, Keith & Bruce
The fabulous Kristin W.
We had a pretty good time and ran into a few other friends there. That was my first time in that space and it dosen't compare to anything in San Francisco, but overall it was ok. Hopefully now that Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the United States we'll be getting some more events like this and few better spaces. Cheers.
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Friday, December 02, 2005 |
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Stupid Ass People At Defensive Driving School
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@HOME. So tonight was my 2nd and last evening of the wonderfully entertaining, Arizona Defensive Driving School. Rather then paying my ticket, getting points and a DMV record, I chose the other option of going to defensive driving school. It's supposed to save you money but the $120 cost only saved me $17 off of my ticket which would have been $137. Ugh what a waste of money. I'm a total moron but that's besides the point. Mainly, what it did save me is the probability of having my insurance rates go up from having a moving violation on my record. To me, that's worth everything.
I didn't know what to expect with this class. I've never been to Defensive Driving school before, no not because I haven't gotten any tickets, but because I just paid them and ended up moving to another state shortly after, so they never followed me. I haven't actually gotten a ticket in over 6 years and now I'm here in Arizona to stay for a while. Shit, I can't have this on my record, so school it was.
It was actually a pretty interesting 2 nights. (I had the option of weekend or evening, so of course I choose evening so as to not have to waste an entire 8 hour weekend day when it could be better spent at home with a hangover ;-) Just kidding!) The instructor, in his late 40's, had been teaching this class for over 18 years. He was a great speaker and pretty funny. There were around 50 people in my class.
I honestly learned a lot of things I didn't know. Not the kind of things that are taught to you by your parents or your driving manual, but rather the kind of information to help you make better decisions as a driver. Ok, I'm not going to get all self-righteous here and say I'm going to be an awesome driver because like everyone else I have my moments, but I do think it will help me consciously examine some of my more 'negative' and 'dangerous' driving habits so that I can make a concerted effort at trying to change them. (I swear I promise I will NEVER masturbate while driving and traveling 85 MPH on the freeway again! I'M KIDDING!)
Probably one of the most useful things I did learn from this class is that there are some really STUPID ASS PEOPLE out there. No seriously. Some of these people are just TOO dumb to be driving and should be instructed to leave their keys and just go home. One of the girls in the class insisted that it was completely legal to travel up to 5 miles an hour over the speed limit and persisted on arguing with the instructor about it. She is also the same 20-y/o girl who admitted this was her 4th moving violation, 3rd speeding ticket and also when shown a 'Do Not Enter' sign in class, she asked "What's that one for ..." Dumb ass. She wasn't the only one. Like I said, some people just shouldn't be allowed to drive.
So I'm done with that, and it wasn't at all painful. I personally think everyone should have to attend a defensive driving class before getting their drivers license. It may help people and in the end the time spent is well worth the information learned. Cheers!
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Thursday, December 01, 2005 |
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It Slices, It Dices, It Cleans Your Kitchen
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@HOME. Ok maybe not all that, but looky-looky what momma (me) got today for her kitchen from Maxi-aids. (Technically I ordered it from Amazon.com with a CD I was buying last week but it was drop shipped from some 3rd party company called Maxi-aids)
Yes that's right it's the Bagel Guillotine! LOL. I swear it wasn't called this when I ordered it on Amazon. Anyway, lets just say that Justin and I bought a 12-pack of Bagels from Einstein Bagels last week and after a week of trying to cut through these things we decided there really had to be a better solution. I can't wait to get bagels again this weekend, I'm so excited!. Hey ... I know what your thinking but it's the little things in life that make me happy mmmm kay? Cheers!
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