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Still Have The Need To Continue This?
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It's funny but my mood has been up and down lately. I'll just say that I've been dealing with some issues in my personal life that have left me restless and a bit on edge lately. Nothing too major, just the things you're sometimes faced with in life. Some things that I'd really love to write about and get off my chest, and some that I wouldn't. It's these types of things which led me to keeping a personal journal in the past. I would scribble some notes down, get my thoughts in order, put my feelings in check, deal with my issues and move on. I know that in the past, for me, writing has always held some sort of therapeutic value. I've not kept a physical journal in years, as my blog had slowly replaced that need in some small way. That is until recently.
I've had so many thoughts running through my head that I'm once again feeling the need to write things down and obtain the value of self-therapy that writing offers me, but I'm not sure that blogging about them for the world to read is exactly the appropriate forum for me at the moment.
Over the past few weeks I've actually started to question if I was going to continue with this blog or my website. I know it seems a bit cliche in the blogosphere to one day call it quits and have this big farewell because you no longer have a desire to blog. It's only cliche because so many people have done so only to come back in the very near future once they've found some new motivation to write. I realize this and realize that as my moods change so will my desire to write or not write, and that's why I've never had my farewell party, and ultimately talk myself out of the desire to shut it all down when I get in that mood.
I've read some articles about how blogging has fallen by the wayside and with the introduction of all the rampant social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, there is no need for blogs anymore because while they once provided an outlet for people to read about you and your life, the same information can be obtained by other means. I disagree, because while on Facebook you might read about what I'm doing at the moment, my mood or who most recently added me as a friend, you don't get any of the insight into my soul as a person that my writing provides.
Anyway as I re-read this post now I realize I probably have no point here except to subtly point out that my life has been changing and I've been questioning myself, but I suppose that's nothing new, you probably could have figured all that out from my Facebook profile. So do I still have the need to continue this? I guess we'll see. Cheers!Labels: Random Thoughts
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How Cute Is Berger!
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*FOLLOW-UP NOTE*This is Berger patiently waiting for me to give him a cookie. I took this photo on Saturday night with my iPhone after Justin and I got back to the house from dinner at Chelsea's Kitchen. I was testing the mobile upload to Blogger with my iPhone while I was sitting and waiting today. Cheers!Labels: Berger
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Baby Boomlet? This Scares Me!
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I stumbled across this article on Digg.com when I was reading the news this morning and it scares me just a little bit because don't we already have enough problems in this world with overcrowding, taxed medical systems and other things due to overpopulation. See the way I see it, the world should be thankful for those of us who turned out to be gay and don't want to have kids because we're doing our part to preserve the natural resources and minimizing overpopulation of this planet.
That should be our new tag line "The Gay's: Just Doing Our Part To Save The Planet!"
Anyway, here's the article ...
'Baby Boomlet' - More Births Last Year Than During Baby Boom
The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau show a fact I find startling: More babies were born in 2007 than even during the height of the baby boom.... [read more] [digg story]Labels: Random Thoughts
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Young Gay Professional Seeks ...
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 I was looking through my backup file archives today for a particular file when I came across some that I didn't recognize, one being titled "Craigslist-HousingAd". I opened the document to find the ad I had placed on Craigslist shortly after moving to San Francisco, looking for a room to rent. I actually got a kick out of reading my old ad, because I was instantly filled with many fond memories from my first year in San Francisco.
I guess it probably might seem strange to some to post an ad, almost along the lines of a personal ad, to find a room for rent. Seee, back in the days of the dot com boom, you didn't typically place an ad that you had a room available, you placed an ad saying that you were looking for a room. People who had rooms for rent, typically the other remaining residents of the flat or house, would read through the craigslist ads and based on your ad, might contact you for an "interview" for the room. With the influx of people to the city back in those days, it was quite a high demand market back for a nice room in a good area of the city.
Here was my ad for a room ...
Young Gay Professional Seeks Room w/ Other
Gay Males or Female
I'm a 30 y/o gay professional male. I'm fairly new to the bay area, as I just moved here in October from Phoenix, AZ to take a job with a dot-com. I'm working as a Senior Software Engineer in Redwood City, and I spend a great deal of my time at work (no I'm not a geek -- it just pays better then bartending!)
I currently live in Foster City where the rent is almost $3000 for a 1-bedroom apartment. In lieu of trying to save some money I'm looking to share a house / apartment / loft with other gay males, or a female. I'm looking for some people that I could also have as my friends, not just roommates. I would ideally like to live right in San Francisco somewhere near restaurants and coffee shops and walking distance to almost everything. Preferably close to Caltrain or the Muni Metro Subway so that I do not have to drive to work. I am negotiable on the amount of rent I can pay. It depends on
location and facilities.
I do not need anything furnished as I already have my own things. What I cannot fit into my room I will be putting into storage somewhere.
I enjoy going out with friends as well as quiet
evenings at home. I don't usually go out or do much during the week, but I'm typically not around too much on the weekends. I take pleasure in doing things including hanging out with my friends, taking small trips and skiing in Tahoe.
I don't have any pets, don't smoke or do drugs. I drink occasionally, but I usually leave that to the social sides of town rather then my home unless a special occasion calls for celebration. I don't usually have people over much except for an occasional friend here and there. I keep normal hours but if I'm up late I'm quiet and respectful of the people I live with. I'm clean, neat, and responsible, have a great sense of humor, and financially stable enough to never worry about paying rent on time.
If you have a place available and I sound like an interesting enough person, please email me [@Email] and feel free to check out my website at [@Website] if you would like to know more information about me.
Thanks!
Rich
If your wondering, I did manage to find a room from this ad. I ended up sharing a house with a girl and her dog. The dog was super sweet, the girl, well that's another story which is better left for another time. Cheers!
Labels: Gay Life, San Francisco
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Friendship
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 Over the past year, the dynamics of our core group of friends has been evolving. It's not good or bad, it just is. It's something that happens with all groups of friends. We're all starting to branch out a bit, meeting new people, and doing the things we each feel are right for us at the moment. New friends, and boyfriends have been introduced, and with every new person the dynamic slightly changes for everyone.
I think many of us are starting to find ourselves going out and doing things on our own lately because interests are changing and to some degree, independent planning of travel and events is much easier then coordinating group trips, especially with the size, diversity and geographic location of everyone in our group. I can't say that I don't find myself missing the relationships that I once had with everyone in the past, but for Justin and I it's always been a slightly different experience because we entered this circle of friends already as a couple, with the rest of the guys all single. Now that there are more of us who are couples with new independent interests and additional stronger personalities, it's made it more difficult to retain the status quo.
"Each person follows an individual path. At any given stage in life, a person may find his path running side by side with another's. At a different stage, paths grow apart as individuals change, as interests change, as common ground become less and less. Then other paths, new paths may begin to parallel these new directions, as new common ground forms between different individuals. Friendship is an example of this: Friendships grow, become fast, then drift apart as interests change, while new friends are made. It does not mean that all friendships are fleeting, just as it does not mean that all friendships are lasting. Both fleeting or lasting: some are; some are not; most fall in between. Because individuals' paths change, sometimes in unforeseen directions, ... For interests change. Common ground disappears.."
Dennis L. McKiernan.
Eye of the Hunter, Chapter 12, "Equinox", pp. 151-152. I truly want to believe that the strength of the friendship among our core group will continue to remain strong, and while things may seem different or possibly even strained for some of us now, our bonds together remain very deep. Anyone who's ever had the pleasure to hang out with our circle has always left with a comment similar to "You guys are so much fun, you're a really dynamic & great group of friends." I've personally always considered this group of guys to be my family, and I feel fortunate to have them all of them in my life and to have had so many great memories with each of them over the years.Labels: Random Thoughts
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Apple iPhone Problems? No, People Love to Complain!
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 Since the launch of the Apple iPhone 3G yesterday the only articles I've seen coming across the news and various blogs have been slams to Apple, complaints about the roll out and complaints about the iPhone. I've read so many iBrick comments that it's ridiculous. Most of the meat of the articles I've seen have been about overstated issues, inaccurate claims and problems by people who frankly shouldn't even be allowed to operate such a complex device. Are there problems with the iPhone? I guess it depends on who you ask and what you define as a problem. I think the bottom line is that people love to complain. People complain about everything and anything, about what's perceived as missing functionality, what's perceived as not working correctly, and what's perceived as a major problem but really isn't. Let's face it, complaints always make better news.
As an iPhone owner, I know first hand what the iPhone does and does not do and what functionality I would like to see added. Does this make the iPhone flawed because I want more? Absolutely not. In my opinion, the iPhone is quite possibly one of the best devices that I've ever owned, and trust me when I say I've had my fair share. A single device is never going to fully meet everyone's expectations and needs, and I wish people would realize that and stop complaining about what it doesn't do for them, and start talking about what it does do.
I was a previous Treo owner before switching to the iPhone and over the last few months which I've had my iPhone, I've realized it's truly the device I had always wished my Treo was. I use it as a phone, a PDA, a media device to play music while I'm working out, a basic PC replacement for browsing the Internet when I'm away from my desk, reading news & rss feeds, getting directions, checking on weather, monitoring my stocks, and text chatting with friends. Aside from my work and personal computers, I now use my iPhone more then any other device I own or have owned in the past.
I've read so many rumors which are simply not true, and I wonder sometimes if the people writing these articles actually have an iPhone. I was amazed today at one article I was reading where most of the comments to the article were from Blackberry owners who didn't own an iPhone, talking about issues with the iPhone. Yes there are functional and feature differences between the Blackberry, and pretty much every other pda/cellphone on the market, and the iPhone, but I'm sorry if you don't own an iPhone you really aren't aware of all the possibilities. Ask any of the millions of people who now own either the iPhone or iPhone 3G, and ask them their opinion, there has to be a reason it's so popular.
With the release of the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 2.0 software update which added push technology and better device security, the iPhone is now even being globally accepted throughout the business world as a business class device. This mass excitement and adoption of the iPhone world wide has succeeded in provided a universal device and platform for which things can be standardized, something I've been saying was needed for a long time now. Microsoft tried this with Windows Mobile, but they feel disappointingly short in the implementation.
Compared to the problems I had in the past with my Treo devices and Windows Mobile, I've not had any problems in syncing my iPhone to any of my computers, and it works seamlessly with Outlook when it comes to my email, contacts and calender. I've also never had any problems with battery life, phone quality or connectivity, but that's also dependent on a persons physical location.
I've never been an avid Apple fan, that is until I got my iPhone, and honestly in my opinion, while the iPhone doesn't have every feature I would like, I can see past my own selfish desired to recognize that the iPhone/iPhone 3G is hands down the best compact universal device and cell phone on the market today. So please stop talking about what the iPhone doesn't do and instead start talking about what it does do, because trust me, if you don't own one yet, you will, just give it time. Cheers!
*UPDATE* One thing I forgot to mention here is that my friends and I (about 5 of us in different cities) also upgraded our iPhones to the 2.0 software update yesterday at various times throughout the day and all without any problems.Labels: Apple, iPhone, Technology
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Digg.com - I'm Addicted
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It's been around for a while now, and I've always heard of it but never really took the time to check it out, that is until yesterday. It's Digg.com According to the Digg about page:
Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users. You won’t find editors at Digg — we’re here to provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and we’re changing the way people consume information online.
Honestly I don't need another Internet addiction, but I have to say Digg is pretty damn cool because it pulls similar content together from all over the place. I think I sad and read about 10 different articles tonight and watched 2 videos before I realized that I need to get on with my life for the evening. Well the upside to my new Internet addiction is that with this overload of articles and information, I'm already starting to feel smarter. Cheers!Labels: Random Thoughts, Technology, Websites
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Toronto Pride Was Amazing!
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I've been in recovery mode for the past week since getting back from Toronto. Seriously, the only Justin and I have been doing after work since we got back from Toronto has been catching up on sleep. I'll tell you this first hand that the Canadians party harder then any of the Americans, especially in Toronto.
         
We arrived on a red-eye flight in Toronto on Friday morning and as we made our way down to College Avenue, where we were all staying with Philip's boyfriend Jamie who is from Toronto, it appeared as if the city was in mid-transformation for what was to be one of the biggest summer celebrations in Canada, Toronto Pride.
I won't elaborate too much on the weekend except for the fact that we party hopped from Friday through Monday with very little sleep in between. I'm not a big fan of most pride celebrations primarily because the festival just isn't my thing anymore, but I have to say Toronto Pride is probably the biggest and best pride celebration that I've ever been too, and the dance parties attached to the weekend were absolutely phenomenal. The decorations, lighting & shows at all the parties were off the hook, and every one was packed wall to wall with hot guys.
Friday was Boot Camp at the Kool Haus with Alyson Calagna & Hector Fonsceca spinning. Saturday afternoon was Aqua which was a T-Dance held at the Sunnyside Pavillion with Stephan Grondin & Mark Falco spinning. Saturday night was the main event titled Babylon Pride at the Sound Academy with Ana Paula & Tony Moran spinning. And the weekend was wrapped up on Sunday night with something called Revival, a once a year gay night at The Guverment with Peter Rauhofer spinning. The music at every party kept us dancing the entire night.
This was our first time in Toronto, and I have to say that Toronto is just an all around a great city with fun bars, good restaurants. There seems to be plenty to do and it's a really easy city to get around. If you've never been to Toronto and you have a chance sometime to make it over for Toronto Pride, I would highly recommend it. It's worth every penny. My hat goes off to the Canadians for throwing one hell of a good weekend. Cheers!Labels: Circuit Party, Gay Life, Gay Pride, Toronto
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