This was a sad day, as it was Sunday and our good friend (and adopted little brother) @DaNo413 had to go home…

BUT! Not till after another fabulous brunch! We headed over to the Miracle Mile Mall at Planet Hollywood and figured we’d just find something. We found deliciousness at Lombardi’s Romagna Mia After some good food we parted ways with our friend Dano and began to SHOP. This was Richard’s fave mall on previous trips so Joelle and I knew we had to let him do his thing. I hung out for the power shopping while Joelle agreed to meet us later.

After 23 shoe stores I was finally allowed to leave the Miracle Mile and even got to pick our next Vegas Adventure. Of course I went with Monorail because I was gonna see the Stratosphere if it killed me… So we walked to the Official Looking Monorail Entrance: Bally’s. Big mistake yo. The Monorail is like 22 miles away from those blue circles and escalators. Anyway, after trudging thru the old casino, lobbies, halls, a very dying mall area, and more halls we finally reached the rear of Bally’s and got on the Monorail… We headed strait for the Strat. Or at least the closest stop.. The Sahara. Poor little worn out thing. This is actually the “seedy” side of the strip. We ran thru there pretty fast and began the small hike to the Strat. On the way you can’t help but stop in at the World’s Largest Gift Shop. It was delightfully tacky and trashy and huge. We literally spent like an hour in there. *time suck* LOL! When we finally got to The Stratosphere, after stepping over the homeless and dodging the drunks barf, we looked at going up the tower for a quick peek. Turns out there was a LOUNGE with LIVE MUSIC. Helloooo Level 107 Lounge! What a great venue! We sat and cocktailed (2 for 1 from 4 to 7 Martinis!) and listened to live music (a great cover lounge act). In fact when Joelle and Mike saw where we were we were instructed not to move, as they were coming up!

tagged: richard joelle mike tenth muse vegas

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You guys. OMG. Brian of cheapblueguitar fame just left. I miss him already.

Yes, it was only our second meeting face to face. Yes, he stayed with us all weekend. Yes, it was awesome.

It all started Friday evening. I had had a CRAZY workweek. I got home later than expected and had to do this wonder woman twirl and show up at the airport. Richard was off later than me! He didn’t even get to twirl! Anyhoo, we arrived at the airport at the proper time, snatched Brian off the curb and took him basically across the street to out favorite “toast to your arrival” location, C-Level. It offers the most amazing view of downtown San Diego I have discovered yet. Also, I am now mayor of that venue on FourSquare. HA! (I literally screamed like a girl. My first real mayorship couldn’t be more awesome!) From there we of course took Brian to Urban Mo’s, our local gay hot spot. Drinks were had. And so yeah. The post below, Touched for the Very First Time occurred. Because Mo’s virgins get a sticker!

The next day we did the Marathon Tourist Day. We kicked it of with brunch at R-Gang Eatery (where the Bloody Marys were a MEAL). Then it was off to Balboa Park, where Brian and I (okay, more ME) were enamored with a band of robotic singing pantomimes. I immediately bought the CD on iTunes and friended them on Facebook. LOVE STEAM POWERED GIRAFFE!!! OMG! It’s like this amazing retro-gothic-sexy-funny Robots that performed on the side walk near the pond on The Prado. LOVE.

After that we were off to downtown to catch the ferry (on Joelle's">Joelle’s of Tenth-muse.com suggestion) which was amazing. We took a few pics (one upside-down) on the boat. Then it was all about strolling on the Island. We lunched at the Coronado Brewery where Brian enjoyed beer with an orange wedge. Yummm? We followed that up with cocktails on our friend Sheila’s patio. Luxury. After that it was a quick stop at the Coronado Cupcakery for dessert and catching the ferry home! And much needed sleep!

Then it was Sunday. The Big BBQ Day. All our local besties were present! (Twitter names to follow) @goostersd, @uberglitterati, @tenthmuse, @richardallen, @dano413, and non-twitter Matt. Such a great time at the Tiki Bar (which is now an official place on Foursquare) Around 7 I had to rush Brian off to the airport! I got back in time to clean the kitchen…

It was the best weekend ever. We all love Brian, and no one wanted him to go home to the fiery hot Phoenix…
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tagged: richard gay twitter brian itunes weekend meeting coronado cheapblueguitar tenthmuse

So I don’t know if I mentioned this. I must have, but yanno. Brain fart as usual. LOL! So my Richard volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters and is upon his one year anniversary with his Little Brother. It is the most awesome thing he has ever done. They hang out once or twice a week and every time Richard gets home he has an energy about him. I can tell he spent the last few hours being twelve. Haha.

Anyway, his Little wanted to go for a swim today (it’s been hotter than a huckabuck here the past few days) so they are actually here at our community pool. We’ll all be grilling hotdogs for dinner on the back patio. I am actually excited to be included. Mostly they do things out about town. Not that there’s anything weird about his hanging out here, I have met his mom and went along on the Twilight movie night (which was a big time!). In fact his mother is well aware of who I am in Richard’s life and is cool with it. In fact she let Richard come out to her son, which I think is amazing! Where was I? Oh, so I was in charge of stopping at the store and getting hotdogs. I was sooo concerned. Like what to get, will he eat it, and all that. So I got traditional Ballpark Franks (ew) and a gourmet type jalapeno sausage for Richard and I. When they arrived here I was showing Richard what I got and his little, spying the jalapeno sausages, was all “I’ve had those before, they are really good!” I literally was like O.O. He’s twelve. I never imagined he’d have eaten, let alone liked such a thing. Lesson learned. In fact, he’s like a little adult in a lot of ways. The boy is an excellent conversationalist! He can keep you talking and actually STEER a conversation if it gets quiet or awkward, which I have witnessed on more than one occasion. It’s freaky at first cause he’s so young but you get used to it. He’s an amazing kid. It’s funny cause Richard was expecting a troubled youth when he signed up. A kid that might be emotionally damaged or worse. Instead he got an intelligent, well brought up, social yet lonely boy that in my opinion is a perfect match.

OMG. I should make sure that the patio furniture has no bird poop. Later.

tagged: richard anniversary swim twilight big brothers big sisters

Yo. Dude. It has been raining up in this town. We here in San Diego are NOT made for rain. Actually we are not ready for anything other than 85 degrees and sunshine. So this rain, thunder, and junk has been CRAZY. Look, we were “rained in”! LOL. Whatevs. So this past Wednesday was a big day in spite of the weather. The big NOH8 Campaign was in town. You know, big photographer, celebs, professional photo, duct tape mouth?  YES. So of course with this going on, Richard and I were in. So we planned ahead, got out of work early and braved the weather. WE got to the very HIDDEN location in the gayborhood early enough that there was no wait. The photographer, Adam Bouska clearly adored my Richard. It was like an *eternity* till my turn. And I’ll admit, the white shirt, white backdrop, and tape scared me. I have lighting issues due to my hairline receding and all. And to put tape over my beard (the most loved change I’ve made) left me feeling insecure. So my actual photo may SUCK. I am glad I did it tho. The experience of being Professionally Photographed was amazing. Amazing. The camera, the direction, the flash. Awesome. Plus the cause and all. I hope my photo is awesome, yet I fear… anyhooo here I am just after at Urban Mo’s wondering if I need to build an ark to survive the floods..

tagged: richard photo crazy weather gayborhood scared rain flash noh8 bouska

So I decided this year I’d do the Wreath Auction at Martini’s Above Fourth as damage control. You see, last year Richard went solo, with friends, and actually bought a wreath. For a lot of money. Like a lot. The wreath, while pretty, matches NONE of our existing holiday decor. It was very expensive. OMG I HATE IT!!!

So, anyhoo. This year we went together. It was fun. There were the muscle boys in sleep bottoms, sans shirts, AKA Wreath Models. The wreaths were.. interesting. There was lots of booze. But I gotta say, after hearing about last year, I was disappointed. First and for-most, the wreath models were being abused by this snatch-y queen in an untucked dress shirt and tie. Gross. She was also abusive to the guests. Secondly the wreaths, while impressive, were nothing like the one Richard bought last year that I love to hate. In fact there was only one that compared, and the price immediately soared out of reach, yet 90 percent of them went for chump change!

I was amazed tho, as to the holiday spirit we encountered. There was a man sitting close-by. He was bidding on everything. He had already won a lot of wreaths. He gave our friend 100 dollars to put towards her wreaths if she won any. She didn’t, but the thought behind it meant a lot. Richard bought him a drink or two.

Later we were famished and ditched the auction and went to Urban Mo’s for real food. It was too much fun and after too many drinks, a 7 ft. tall drag queen, and meeting some gay neighbors from a block away, we called it a night. Good night moon!

tagged: richard gay holiday neighbors booze sleep night money friends boys

What a day! You know when you plan something so far out that you kinda forget about it? That’s how it was with Wicked. We bought the tickets, when? Like April?! Something like that. So when Richard announced this past Sunday that “OMG we go to the play on Wednesday!” It was like being excited all over again!

So today was the big day, obviously. I was told to leave work early (my man likes to have plenty of time before an event like going downtown), which I did. Only to sit home waiting for HIM to leave work, which he did, LATE. But whatevs. In the meantime I ate all the leftover Tai food. Ha! Ha ha! I was already dressed, so had a bit of time. I felt really cute in my all black outfit that I wore last year to Dine Out For Life, which is important because those little pants fit again… It was what I wore to work too. LOL. Anyways, so he got home, we freshened up and were out the door. When we finally got downtown (it’s a long 6 miles yo!) we were like an hour and a half early. We even found free parking! But that early, it was like… Now what? Richard surprised me with a side trip to The US Grant Hotel, where we had a cocktail and some delightful nibbles. Chilled prawns and some chicken fritters. Ya gotta love half off apps!

So the food took kinda long and we ended up rushing the block up to the Civic Theatre but made it right in time for seating. The folks in front of us getting in, bless their hearts, had apparently come to the wrong show. Theirs was last night. O.U.C.H. The wife was visibly seething. So that was entertaining. LOL. We get inside and our seats were really close. Far left aisle, but really, really close. It was great! The seats are weird. It was a lot more leg-room that I remember in the Golden Gate Theater in SF, but it may have been the section. They are really narrow tho. Like in that commercial with all the kids in their football pads that can’t lean back at the same time, only no one has pads on. It was a relief when the older gentleman and his granddaughter moved over into the vacant seats. Except for when an hour into the show the owners of those seats ended up next to me.

Dude. PDA overload. First they were an hour late. I say you bar the doors after 15 minutes. But whatever. So they stumble in and sit, then they make out and giggle for like 10 minutes. Ew. And he’s all in my space, touching me with all the contorted groping he’s doing to her. I swear I could have reached around and been another set of hands and he’d not have noticed. Also, he stunk. It was either bad cologne or her perfume landed on him and soured. Either way, ew. Finally I moved and cleared my throat enough and they settled down and we watched the show. But after intermission, it was drama. First they discovered that gramps had stole their seats. LOL. She (the bitch!) decided not to say anything and stay where they were (hate her!). Later I swear he fingered her. As in… Yeah, like that.

However, in public you expect filth. In this case I sat next to it. I did not let that spoil my fun.

The show must go on! And what a SHOW! OMG! OMG! OMG!

Love. LOVE! I loved it! Go see it. Really. So. Worth. It.

tagged: richard omg bitch fun ew cocktail outfit wicked downtown happy

I love Tuesdays… Have I mentioned that? LOL. Of course I have. Today was a day of errands, lunch (mmm!), and chores. I had a fabulous time. Isn’t that funny?

Anyhoo. Richard is starting dinner and I am relaxing with an adult beverage and some internet time. So I thought I might blog! *gasp* I know, right? Again so soon? Yes!

I just finished my reference questionnaire for Richard’s application to become a Big Brother. It was interesting for me. One of the questions involved my giving a specific instance when he was interacting with a child and how I felt about it. It was tough because as I thought about it there have been so many! Richard loves kids, and the only feeling I am ever left with is that he is a natural parent. He adores kids! He has this innate “skill” (for lack of a better word) with children that I wish more parents had! I always feel kinda bad when I witness that tho, because I don’t really want children. Sometimes I wish I felt different, for his sake. But I don’t really. I do not see myself as a parent in anyway. Weird. Of course I didn’t write all of that. TMI and all… It just got me thinking is all…

Anyway, wish him luck with the Big Brother thing. It’ll be good for him, as well as the kid.

tagged: richard update day off big brother introspective

So there we were, watching the evening news. On FOX. Not my favorite… Well, until lately. The new Weather Man is so hawt! I mean H.A.W.T. So I tuned in, even though we all know there was another Kyle before the FOX News Kyle. I clearly LOVE news. Anyhoo, so we were watching and it was time for the weather. My favorite part. Kyle Hunter. Helllooo Kyle! My Richard hates when I crush on news personalities but I can’t help it. Have you seen Kyle? Well, if not, you have to trust me. I tried to Google him but as it turns out “Kyle Hunter” is a big porn name too… LOL

So yeah. Watching the weather with my main man Kyle and he asks his question. You see, every night he has a question he asks viewers and we are to reply via Twitter to @kylehunter (natch) as to our answer and if you are right, well… you might get mentioned ON THE NEWS. Tonight my man Richard had the right answer. When do tornadoes most often occur? Apparently between 2 and 6 PM! *squeal*

Now if I could just get @KyleHunter out for a drink… Hey! Get your mind out of the gutter! I am a married-ish man (stupid laws)! He just seems like good people, and I’d love to have a friend who knew if it was going to rain… Not to mention how hot he is!

tagged: richard weather kyle hunter fox news tornadoes

OMG. Lunch was so bad I had to Yelp it. Ugh. Bland food = bad reviews yo.

Other than that these 2 days off were just peachy. Really! The nice part about trying not to spend money is that Richard and I have spent a lot of time at home. Together. I like it, actually! I forget how nice it is just to hang out with nowhere to be and nothing to do. Together, though. I have had a blast! Plus we have the new kitten to play with/fight over all day. Heh. The only downside is that leaves little blog fodder.

UPDATE: I can’t believe I forgot this part! I had to take my car in to the shop! You see, last week or maybe it was 2 weeks ago I had ran over something on the freeway. I was on my way home, it was late at night, and it looked like just some cardboard. I knew as I went over it that that was not the case. It was wood. And I basically hit it as I went over it. There was a load crash, but my car seemed to be okay, so I continued home. Over the next few days something seemed off with the alignment. The steering felt funny, but not *that* bad. I drove as normal the next week or so. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I had parked with my wheel turned and that action somehow motivated me to look at my tire. I saw that it had a gouge, as well as being split in three places. It also looked much more worn down than the one on the other side. Uh oh. So I brought it in today. I was so afraid I had bent something, because the alignment only seemed *funny*, not that bad… Anyhoo, 523 bucks later and all is well. So much for catching up on bills this year. *sigh*

Oh! Do go kiss Brian for me though. He needs some love! (Hang in there my friend! We are here if you need us!)

tagged: richard blog brian lunch omg kiss kitten

I haven’t blogged in like 3 days.

Dude. There was a time where that’d been unheard of. What the hell?

Well, lately there has been a bit going on. I just recently discovered that I have used up all my weekends off till 2009. It’s a matter of a few weeks until the 6-day work weeks begin. Oy. Kill me now, right?

On another topic, we are recovered enough from Chanel’s passing to begin considering another cat. That decision has been put upon me, which makes sense since our 2 cats were Richard’s and were “in the picture” as it were, before me. Heh. So I have decided that I want, no, I need a Siamese. However I do not want a rescue cat or mixed Siamese domestic. I want the real deal. A modern Siamese purebred. A cat that is intelligent, social, and might just learn to talk. A cat descended from royalty. Not show-quality tho. I am not rich, as much as I wish to be every day. So a traditional Siamese is not out of the question.

Is it wrong? Am I selfish? Why not a shelter cat adoption? Well, because I am not a 12 year old looking for my first pet. I am a grown man and will have this cat, if all goes well, for 20 years. I’ll be over 50 when it passes. Hell, it could outlive me! I’d better be happy with it. To be perfectly frank, I am taking a risk getting a pet at all. It could just bond with Richard and hate me. Why get a cat that is less than what I want and resent it all the more because it hates me? If I found a purebred rescue Siamese I’d grab it, but those just don’t exist so far. Well at least not ones born with eyelids. I can afford a cat, but not repeated surgeries from the start.

I have always been fascinated with Siamese cats. I would love having one around, and if it loves me back? All the better. Either way it’ll give me joy just being Siamese. So I have started looking, rather unsuccessfully, for my new cat. You’d think you could just go online and look for a new cat and buy one later that day. Not so much. There is waiting. There are no kittens. They really cost just too much in today’s economy. Like $350! Imagine! But I am a man on a mission. The cost is justified by the end. My dream pet. So I search. And whine, and moan. I can picture the little guy I want it so bad. How I afford it if I do have to go with the 350 model, I do not know.

In the meantime, I do feel bad about the cats needing homes. I feel worse when folks point out the mixed siamese adopt-a-cat areas on sites. I get that there are needy cats. I have been down that road. However, this is something I have always wanted. This is my chance, since there is “room at the inn”.

tagged: richard work cats pets selfish kittens siamese cats