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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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Thursday, September 06, 2007 |
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Labor Day in NYC : Jerry's Photo From Work@Stereo
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Jerry took this photo with his iPhone on Sunday Night at at the Work @ Stereo event we went too in New York city. Due to the fact that the Alegria Party was cancelled, Work @ Stereo, which is usually on Saturday Nights was split into two nights with Peter Rauhofer spinning on Saturday night, and Offer Nissim and Eddie Elias spinning on Sunday night.
The funny thing is that Justin and I are both in this photo. We all had a great time in New York City, I'm very glad we went. As always just being in any really big city, let alone NYC, the city of all cities, makes me homesick for being in the middle of it all. I've only been back for a few days now and I'm ready for a trip back to the Big Apple soon. Cheers!
*HINT* Find big guy in near center of photo with black v-neck shirt and I'm directly behind him looking to the left and Justin is immediatly to my left looking to his left.Labels: Circuit Party, Gay Bars, Holidays, Jerry Timms, New York City
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Thursday, August 30, 2007 |
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Off To New York for Labor Day
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I'm off to New York for Labor day with Philip, Jerry and Justin. This trip was primarily Philip's idea since he doesn't know how to stay home in Los Angeles and relax.
I'm excited about being back in New York again since the last time Justin and I were in New York was in November of 2002 and we looked like this:
Thank god for the scarf that was covering my triple chin. Anyway, I'm excited and hopefully I'll have lots of new photos from the trip. Cheers!Labels: Holidays, New York City
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Thursday, January 11, 2007 |
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Los Angeles NYE 2006 - The Party
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After a rather scenic drive around downtown Los Angeles we finally made it over to the Hollywood Palladium. I won't mention why we ended up taking a rather long detour around the city because someone thought they knew where they were going and ended up taking us the wrong way. *cough* Philip *cough*
Gurl ... Where did you get that gay ass belt?
Wake up Jerry the party hasn't even started yet!
DJ, Tony, Art, Jerry trying to figure out how to work his camera & Justin
We walked in, looked around and the place was packed with guys of all types, ages and races, including some local celebrities such as Wilson Cruz, and a few Undergear models.
We must have been standing on the rice paddy side of the dance floor.
The devil on one shoulder telling me to do evil things ...
And the Angel on the other shoulder. Could you be any skinnier or whiter Justin?
As fitting as it may have been for being in Hollywood, a video montage of various movie clips from 2006 where flashed up on all the screens around the room which led us right up to a rather loud and exciting 10 second countdown to the new year!
Happy New Year 2007!
Confetti & Smoke spew down on the packed crowd
Interesting lighting casts a glow across the entire room as everyone kisses
Manny Lehman was the DJ for the evening and the party rolled on until 4 AM. Not ready to stop dancing we headed back to Philip's for a quick wardrobe change and then back out again to the Hollywood Arena for afterhours. The afterhours party was packed and I think most of us actually had more fun at the afterhours then we did at the main event. We danced until around 9:30 AM before packing it in and heading back to Philip's apartment to catch a few hours of sleep before bringing our weekend to a close.
There is really something tragic about walking out of a dance club mid-morning when the sun is full on in the middle of the sky. Oh well, we had a great time and will probably do it all over again next year.
Well that's it for the Los Angeles NYE posts and photos. Once again it was fun to spend time with our friends. I'm looking forward to this year as we'll all be getting together again for a few different partiesLabels: Bernard, Circuit Party, Holidays, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Los Angeles, New Years Eve, Tony
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Los Angeles NYE 2006 - Getting Ready
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Everyone headed back to Philip's apartment in the early evening to catch a quick disco nap before going out for the night. We were all headed to the same destination, one of the largest New Year's Eve Dance Parties in the world, held at the Hollywood Palladium.
You would think it would be a daunting task with a limited amount of space, 12 people, and two bathrooms to get everyone ready, but surprisingly everything flowed as smoothly as a well oiled machine.
White Steve digs through his bags for the perfect outfit
Randall waiting for everyone to finish
Justin and Tony
What's wrong Stan?
Damn Steve are you always this happy?
It's not midnight yet Bernard, no sneaking an early kiss!
Kendall hitting up the Red Bull before the party
The entire gang of 12 before we headed out to the party
We all managed to get showered, dressed and ready in a matter of two hours. We loaded up into the cars around 9 and headed out to the Hollywood Palladium for the main event of the evening.Labels: Bernard, Circuit Party, Holidays, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Los Angeles, New Years Eve, San Diego Boys, Tony
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Los Angeles NYE 2006 - The Day Shopping
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We woke up somewhere around noon to White Steve cooking everyone breakfast. After eggs, bacon, bagels and hash browns we all got ready and headed our own ways. Stan, White Steve, Kendall, Steve & Randall headed out to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Tony & DJ headed to brunch at the Beverly Wilshire, Philip met up with some local friends to go over to the UCLA basketball game, and Justin, Jerry, Bernard and I headed up to West Hollywood for some coffee and then over to the Farmers Market & Grove for an interesting shopping experience.
Kendall, Stan & White Steve
The downtown Los Angeles skyline in the distance
Shopping at the Grove
Walking around the Grove was an interesting experience. Not only was there a ridiculous amount of hot guys all over the place, but Jackie from the Bravo TV show 'Work Out' walked right past us. It was a bit surreal, but I guess that's all a part of being in Los Angeles.
Bernard & Justin pose for a quick Photo
Justin, Bernard & Jerry
Rich, Justin, Bernard & Jerry as it turns dusk at the Grove
The evening sky over Los Angeles
Jerry, Bernard, Justin and I spent most of the afternoon into the early evening walking around, talking, shopping and having a really great time at the Grove. If you ever get a chance to check out the Abercrombie store there, it's definitely worth it. Four stories high, shelves and shelves of clothes, interesting paintings, and a shirtless male model exhibiting pretty much the most perfect body I've ever seen, all while standing at the front door and greeting incoming customers. Only in Los Angeles.Labels: Bernard, Circuit Party, Holidays, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Los Angeles, New Years Eve, San Diego Boys, Tony
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Los Angeles NYE 2006 - The Night Before
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The first night everyone arrived in Los Angeles, which was Saturday the 30th, we packed into a few cars and headed out to West Hollywood or WeHo as the gay's call it and started our evening with a few drinks at the Abbey.
Jerry, Justin, Tony & Dallas Justin
Tony, Dallas Justin & Kendall
Stan, Kendall & Steve in the background
Can you say Asian sandwich? Bernard, Rich & Philip (More Asparagus?)
Look who we ran into! Ben & Ed formerly from Phoenix
As I was looking across the room I immediately spotted Ben, an old friend and business partner of mine from Phoenix who has since moved to Los Angeles. He was at the Abbey with his pseudo roommate Ed, also from Phoenix. He came over, hung out and we had a chance to catch up a little bit.
We stayed at the Abbey long enough for a few drinks and then walked next door to Heat. It was certainly the happening place of the evening, packed with wall to wall people.
Look who else Justin & I ran into! Kevin!
Kevin actually knew we were coming out to Los Angeles and we first met up with him at the Abbey. Although brief, it was good to get a chance to catch up with Kevin and spend a little time with him. Kevin moved from Phoenix to Los Angeles a few years ago and is loving every minute of it. Every time I talk to him he wants to know when Justin and I are moving out as well. Patience my boy, patience.
They're all secretly wearing Invisaligns! Stan, Randall, Philip & Bernard
Randall, Steve, Bernard, Philip, & Kendall
2 yummy boys from San Fran hanging out with Tony & Dallas Justin
Around 2 AM everything started shutting down and we were quickly ushered out of the bars and onto the street. We packed it up and headed out to grab a bite to eat at some late night dinner. Stan proceeded to wow us all and promptly ordered the $9.99 full dinner special with salad and dessert. Let me tell you that kid can eat, but also no photos of it for prosperity. So sad. After some food, a few stories and many laughs, we headed back to Philips where 12 of us would be spending the night.Labels: Bernard, Circuit Party, Holidays, Jerry Timms, Justin Chanley, Los Angeles, New Years Eve, San Diego Boys, Tony
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Saturday, January 06, 2007 |
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Back from Los Angeles
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Yes that's right it's true, we're back from our trip to Los Angeles. Actually we got back in on Tuesday and I tried to post however blogger wasn't working correctly.
So the trip was great, we had a ton of fun and rang in the New Year properly with our friends. I have more pics and story to come so stay tuned.Labels: Circuit Party, Holidays, Los Angeles, New Years Eve, Travel
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Tuesday, December 26, 2006 |
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It's Hard To Work After The Holidays
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The one thing that pisses me off the most at work during the holidays is how my co-workers just automatically assume that because I'm 'unmarried' and without children, I shouldn't have a problem working over the holidays while they take the time off without question to spend with their family. I mean it almost seems as if I'm not even asked or given an option, it's just assumed that I will work. Just a peeve of mine I guess because it's something that has occurred at almost every place I've worked where my co-workers are married with children. People with children always think they have more rights then those of us without, but I'll save that discussion for another day.
Anyway, it's hard to come back to work after a day or two off, especially after a holiday. At least it's a very short week for me this week because aside from being Tuesday already, I've decided to take off Thursday and Friday since I'm headed out to Los Angeles on Wednesday night to celebrate the New Year with my friends.
I actually had a good holiday weekend. It was spent at home with Justin and my Mother. I thought I would do something nice for my Mother and take her to downtown Phoenix for midnight mass at St. Mary's Basilica on Christmas Eve. While I don't usually go to church much these days, my Mother remains an devout Catholic and never misses mass. It's been years since either of us have attended a midnight Christmas mass together and I thought it would be a nice change for her since St. Mary's Basilica is the largest and one of the most beautiful churches in Arizona. The church was packed and surprisingly I even saw quite a few other gay boys who I know from around town. It was a nice service and by the time we got home it was nearly 2 AM. As was tradition with my family, and has become tradition with Justin and I, the three of us opened our gifts in front of the tree after mass. It was nice.
Monday was spent watching some movies and cooking Christmas dinner which consisted of a ham, some mashed potatoes, corn, deviled eggs and my Mother's delicious home-made cole-slaw. We enjoyed having dinner together, my Mother headed back to her place and Justin and I wound down the evening in front of the television.
To some extent I'm glad that it's finally all over and I can soon get back into my normal routine again. I love the holiday season, but all this gift-giving and present buying really stresses me out, not to mention all the over-eating which usually starts at Thanksgiving. I'm ready to move into the new year, start out fresh again, get back to my normal diet, and get my ass back to the gym again with a vengeance. Cheers.Labels: Christmas, Holidays, Justin Chanley
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Saturday, December 23, 2006 |
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2 Days Until Christmas & Photos From Our Home
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Well I'm not going to make this post too long because I actually have plenty to say about this year, the holidays and life in general but I'm not ready to write about it just yet. What I have done in this post is included some photos that I just took from inside of our home so you can indeed see that we decorate for the holidays here in Arizona as well.
This year has just been so crazy. I still haven't finished shopping. I never sent out cards. We didn't have our party. I didn't write my yearly holiday letter. It's been a holiday filled with last minute shopping and neglected tasks. Each week I've thought that things were going to slow down, but it's just seemed to work the opposite for me this year and everything just got thrown into overdrive.
It's certainly been a year of change, and yet with all that change my life seems more hectic then ever. Busy with work, busy with travel and just busy with life in general. But in the end that seems to be when I'm at my best, when I'm busy. I'm really looking forward to the New Year and being able to finally get back on track with my life and my career, but for now I just have to get through this holiday season. The main thing here is that I'm still happy, and for me that's all that matters.
Justin and I have to run to the mall today to brave the crowds and get a few last minute things, and then we might go out again tonight with Jerry and Jerry to Burn. We'll see. I'll have more to write tomorrow. Cheers.Labels: Berger, Christmas, Holidays, Justin Chanley, Our Home
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Sunday, December 03, 2006 |
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A Party or Not? What's Different About This Year?
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Every year for the past 4 years Justin and I have thrown a pretty fun Holiday bash. Usually one that involves a ton of food, a fully stocked bar, too much drinking, jello shots and ultimately people passing out all over our house. In past years we've always enjoyed getting ready for the party, stocking our bar, planning the food and organizing the guest list.
This year is different.
Our Bar Stock from the 2005 Holiday Party
I can't put my finger on it but we're just not into it this year. We still haven't even decided if we're going to have a party at all or not. After the party each year we've always said we weren't going to do it again but that usually passes very quickly and by mid November we've already sent out the Evite. Now here we are and it's already Dec-3 and we're still thinking we aren't going to have it. I just don't know. I was pretty firm all year about not really wanting to do it this year. For the past few weeks several people have asked me when we were having our party. I've had to tell them I didn't think we were doing it this year.
"What? You're not having it? Why not?" was the typical response to my answer.
Well there just seem to be so many more reasons against it then for it. First it's always very expensive for us. It's also time consuming, somewhat of a hassle, stressful, messy and did I mention expensive. Let me tell you the boys in Phoenix know how to drink, especially when it's free. The only good part of the whole thing is that we enjoy hanging out with friends and acquaintences and showing everyone a great time.
But now as we approach the time when we usually have the party I'm almost feeling guilty. I'm feeling as if I'm breaking a holiday tradition that I started. I know it's not really a big loss for anyone if we don't have the party, but I guess in the end I always did enjoy people coming over and having an awesome time. I still don't know, I mentioned it to Justin tonight. Maybe we'll just have a small one this year, we'll see.Labels: Holidays, Phoenix
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Sunday, November 26, 2006 |
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Friday, November 24, 2006 |
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Completely Stuffed
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Instead of stuffing the turkey this year I stuffed myself. I guess that's not really different from any other year though. It's always so difficult to sit down at the dinner table with all the holiday food options presented in front of you and not fill your plate from edge to edge with tasty creations.
In most years past, neither Justin nor I would go home for Thanksgiving. We would end up having what was dubbed as the orphan holiday dinner together with Mark, Andrea and whomever else was around with no place to go for the holidays. Last year we all trekked down to LeAnn & Camron's house to have dinner at their place. It was a great time. Rather then a family holiday, Thanksgiving for us had become a fun time that consisting of good friends, good food and plenty of drinking.
This year was different. Not just for Justin and I, but also for Mark & Andrea. This year would be the first year spent with real family in a long time. Now that my Mother is living here in Arizona, there was no question that she would be coming over to spend the day with us. Mark's parents are also living here in Arizona now, and Mark's brother Johnny and his wife Karen drove down from their home in Colorado to visit, which meant that Mark & Andrea would spend the day together with their family at Mark's parents house.
Now, it's not that I don't enjoy having my Mother here, I'm actually glad she can finally be part of our lives. I am however somewhat sad to think that this holiday is a representation of so many of the other things in our lives that have changed this year and marks the end of our orphan holiday dinners together. I guess it's all an evolution right? Things change and people adapt. I suppose that's what makes life more interesting.
Justin and I decided to finally try making a deep-fried turkey this year. Ever since that time many years ago when we had deep-fried turkey at our friend Steven's house we've often thought about it. At the last minute this year we decided to purchase a fryer and try it out ourselves. I think my Mother was a bit skeptical at first, but it actually turned out very well. With only having to cook the turkey for 3 minutes per pound, it really cut down our time spent in the kitchen. Justin monitored the turkey for a hour while my Mother and I finished up making the stuffing other trimmings. Dinner for us was served around 4 PM and lasted less then an hour. I wonder sometimes if it's all worth it just for an hour worth of over indulgence. Oh well that's a debate better left for another day.
We finished dinner, watched some TV, and a movie before my Mother headed off to bed in the guest room. Around midnight, Mark and Andrea stopped over for a nightcap, just back after the hour drive from Mark's parents house. We broke out some wine and beer, talked, laughed and rekindled a small part of what always made our orphan holiday dinners so much fun, the friendship. While all our lives have changed these days, each of us having family in town now, and our paths starting to take slightly separate directions, it's nice to know that we can still get together, laugh, drink and enjoy each others company just like we've always done in the past.
So in the end, it was a nice holiday. Neither better or worse then the past, just different that's all. And you know something, I'm completely ok with different. If anything I've realized that we can't live in the past and the one factor that's always constant in life is change, so to me different is good, it's just what we make of it. I'm really looking forward to winding down the rest of this year and starting off with a brand new year of new challenges, adventures and experiences. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, Cheers!Labels: Holidays
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My Liver Needs a Rest!
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For most people the Fourth of July holiday weekend brings potato salad, burgers, chips and a family gathering. Not for us gay boys, it brings yet another excuse to go out drinking and dancing every night. Now mind you when the holiday falls on a day like Tuesday (which it did this year) that means almost a week of drinking, starting on Friday and continuing all the way up thru the holiday on Tuesday.
 
 
My friend Philip was in town to hang out with us for the long holiday. No thanks to Philip, I lost my liver in the alley somewhere between beers on Sunday and double Kettle One on the rocks on Monday. It just wasn't a very pretty weekend. As is the norm for the Phoenix night life, we started at Amsterdam and then off to Charlie's where we ended up until 4am almost every one of the nights.
We all really had a great time over the weekend, but I'm certainly glad that I'm going to get some time to rest for a few weeks until Justin and I join Bernard, Philip, Tony and Mike in San Diego at the end of the month to do it all over again.Labels: Holidays
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Happy St. Patrick's Day
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Alright, I know this one is a few days late here, but I started writing a post the other day and inadvertently wiped it out in the middle of switching to another window so I scrapped it. I was starting to say in my last post that St. Patrick's day was such a great holiday as it's the only one that actively promotes drinking to excess. I haven't actually gone out for St. Patrick's Day in several years. Yes I know that may come as a shock to some of you, but the concept of drinking green beer and getting toasted beyond belief for one night is a really straight thing, because with the exception of the green beer, the gay's don't need a special holiday for an excuse to booze it up.
So the evening started out very innocently. We had actually planned in advance on going out somewhere this year with Mark and Andrea, and afterall it was a Friday night, so who am I to say no to hanging out for a drink. Mark and Andrea stopped by around 6 to see if we wanted to head out early and eat. We assembled the troops and headed out to grab a bit to eat before partaking in any real St. Patrick's Day festivities. We ended up at the Old Chicago Restaurant for some food and wouldn't you know it, but Old Chicago even served green beer so we could get a head start on the party. Who knew the Italians got into the spirit of the holiday? The miracles never cease.
So following dinner we all walked out of the restaurant and heard this ... well ... raining sound. Looking around we couldn't figure out what was going on because everything appeared completely dry. Finally something at the back side of the parking lot caught our eyes ...
Apparently the sprinkler system was going off and this sprinkler head seemed to missing. Lucky for the owner of the truck it was shooting straight up and coming down directly into the bed of his truck. We all got a good laugh out of this one and were glad that it wasn't our car with the sunroof open or M&A's topless jeep. That would have been tragic and not quite as funny.
So we decided upon our options for the rest of the evening and all agreed to head over to O'Kelly's. Now let me explain to you about O'Kelly's. It's pretty much the unofficial white trash capital of the east valley. I'm not kidding you here, the last time we were at O'Kelly's some drunk fat man ripped the bottom of his shirt off, cut holes in it, tied it around his head like a mask and ran around the bar pretending to be a superhero. You see where I'm going with this one? Yeah it's THAT kind of place, you know what I'm talking about here right?
Anyway, the ONLY reason we decided to go to O'Kelly's (really the only reason we ever decide to go to O'Kelly's) was because it's literally a 1/2 mile away from our houses, and we just didn't want to drive to Tempe or central Phoenix to hit up something a bit more fabulous. White trash here we come.
 
Enter the drunk straight people. So as you can see from the photo above, O'Kelly's really gets into the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. They fenced off a large portion of the front parking lot and filled it with plastic tables, porta-potties, and a huge inflatable jousting ring which people would stand on inflatable stands and attempt to beat the living shit out of their opponent with an inflatable joust pole (like they used to do on American Gladiators ... remember that show?).
After finding a parking spot and fighting our way through the crowds of stumbling drunk people who were leaving the bar, falling in the bushes, and on the sidewalk, we finally made it to the inside. We decided to stay outside, watch the drunk fools, and take advantage of the makeshift bar which was setup in the parking lot. No need to fight our way through the crowd to go inside when all we needed was right there.
Well the jousting matches quickly turned into a game of knock the drunk off the post. Yes that's right, we saw both men and women fighting to stay on the post only to get socked in the head by their opponent and knocked completely on their back. One women even got knocked down and rolled completely out of the inflatable into the parking lot. Yeah, see what I mean here, it's a quality place.
I think we made it through our first beer before the really crazy things started happening. This woman walked out carrying a life size man doll with her. She would stop to talk to people and move the guys makshift arms with her hand. Everyone wanted me to take a photo of her with the doll but I just couldn't, it was really kinda creepy.
Next up ... the wet t-shirt contest. Yes that's right only in Mesa, Arizona can you find a wet t-shirt contest outside at a bar in March. Man this is such a wonderful place to live. LOL. Enter drunk mother with ripped jeans and really tight clothing. I honestly though that in order to have a wet t-shirt contest there had to be more then one contestant. I guess I was wrong ...
 
We tried to push Andrea up there to compete, but she didn't really seem too interested. In the end the flashing mother must of won by default because she walked away with the entire $40 pot ... that's right folks, $40. Man it must have been a good night for her. I'm glad I had my camera with me for proof of all this, I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
So immediatly following the wet t-shirt contenst, we realized the night just couldn't get any better, so we packed it in and headed back to our place for a few additional beers before finishing out the evening. To say the least, it was certainly one interesting St. Patrick's day.Labels: Holidays
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Saturday, December 24, 2005 |
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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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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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Saturday, December 10, 2005 |
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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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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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