a view through an open window

MARDI GRAS MADNESS!

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:45:44 GMT

I'm off to Sydney tomorrow.

See you in a couple weeks. :)

P.S. they're making a movie, too

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 04:00:17 GMT

my friend and i decided to carpool to work this morning since we were scheduled to fly out to Spokane for the day. she came by at 6, which meant that i was up and moving by 5 so i could shower/wake-up, change, "breakfast", make a quick run downstairs to Safeway to get stuff for lunch, and be back in time for the pick-up.

i've never been a morning person, but today, i was ready with 15mins to spare. the fact that i actually had time to relax before heading out to work was something out of the ordinary, so while i waited for her to call to let me know she was here, i decided to kill time with the flatscreen.

much to my surprise, i was greeted by the 80's thanks to Adult Swim.

Voltron. that's right. Voltron. not that CGI version up there... but this one:

it's official. i *heart* Adult Swim. what better way to start the day than with a flashback to the 80's.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe

italian sausage... need i say more?!

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 19:00:22 GMT

yeah, your mouth is watering...

pics and blog found here

Mai Tais and Sex on the Beach... a.k.a. H A W A I I pt.II

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:11:20 GMT

three days in hawaii... here's what you missed:

...see how tough my work week can be?!

not pictured are:

1) whale watching

2) bar hopping

3) food eating

4) film screening

5) souvenir shopping

need i say more? :)

H A W A I I

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:25:02 GMT

the new iPod Shuffle is the shit. get it; use it; love it. it's the best.

i picked it up on "black friday", a.k.a. "jon's high holy day", while i was vacationing in hawaii and needless to say, it's become my new favorite accessory. it's perfect for working out, laying out on the beach, or while you're stuck on a plane for hours on end. and not to mention it just looks hot. extra points to the design team, fo sho!

hawaii was a blast, i'm not gonna lie. it was in the 80's all week, the sun was out, i got a tan and beach-ed it up like there was no tomorrow.

the great thing about having family in hawaii is that you always have the perfect excuse to go there. you know how people fuss about visiting relatives and going to family reunions? yeah... not so much when it's hawaii.

the family makes an effort to get together at least once a year sometime, somewhere (there are six of us... the 'rents, two sisters and my brother and me). last year it was Chicago when the baby bro graduated from college; the year before last was over Christmas. this year, the holiday of choice was Thanksgiving.

...but rather than boring you with talks of food and family--it's not fun unless you're there in person--i'll tickle your fancy with our mini-vay-cay-within-my-vay-cay to the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

enjoy!

...and now it's snowing in seattle.

The Mile High Club, Seven Miles High

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:56:06 GMT

I have to pee. It's about 40mins into the flight and my bladder is about to burst; I should've taken care of it before we left the gate… stupid seatbelt sign. I hate being "that guy" who gets up when the sign is still on. It's inevitable that whenever you decide to getting up regardless of what the sign says, the flight attendant makes the "ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you remain seated when the fasten seatbelt sign is illuminated" announcement. It's so annoyingly passive-aggressive. I always think it'd be funnier if they just called people out: "Hey! You standing up—sit your ass back down. Can't you see that the friggin' sign is lit?!" Once, just someone say it that way. I'd laugh my ass off.

After about 3 songs on the good ol' IPod, the seatbelt sign is still on, but I say "fuck it" and get up to piss. I'm in first class and that pretty much means I can do whatever the hell I want, right? Of course, by the time I get back to my seat, an announcement comes over the PA:

"Good morning folks, we've reached our cruising altitude of 42,000 feet. We expect smooth sailing with maybe some light bumps along the way. I've turned off the fasten-seatbelt sign, so feel free to roam about the cabin. We ask that when you're seated to have your seatbelts fastened in the event we encounter any turbulence. We've about 5hrs and 9mins left so sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of your flight."

Wasn't the announcement you expected, huh? See? Told ya… First Class.

5hrs left 'til I'm back in Hawaii. This is the first Thanksgiving that I'll be home since I left for college. Typically, I'm off snowboarding or something during the break and then I fly home for Christmas or New Years. This time around, the family will be doing our version of a European Christmas Vacation, so flying to Hawaii then isn't an option. I unfortunately won't be able to join them in Europe, so the big family reunion is happening over Turkey Day.

Today's in-flight movie is "John Tucker Must Die"—a really cute movie about high school and life lessons which include such typical themes as, "be true to yourself" and "life is complicated even when you're the hottest guy on campus, so empathize with me anyway". Of course, it's not hard to do… seeing as how it's Jesse Metcalf. Yum. Halfway through the movies, I realize he reminds me of Eugene… eww.

I'm just playing, Gene-o. You know you're a hottie.

The movie kills just under 2hrs of the flight and now there's about 3hrs left. What better time to zone-out with the IPod and catch up with the recent happenings of yours truly…

The past couple weeks have flown by rather quickly. I got back from my trip on the 7^th and November is pretty much gone…

Roomie and I happened to get back within minutes of each other, except I flew into Sea/Tac and he didn't. His car battery died and since it was already late in the evening, we decided to hop in my car and jump his the next day—one more day wasn't going to hurt it. It had been about 8 months since we last saw each other, but it was as if we had only been gone a few days. The next few days would be spent trying to figure out who was where when whatever happened with whomever. For some of our friends, it was their first time seeing the dynamic duo together and like everyone else before them, they got lost in the conversation when we progressed to Roommate Sign-Language. If you've not seen it before, it's a must. Not that I'm bragging or anything, but it's really quite impressive. Basically, we rock.

The reunion dinner happens a couple days later at Morton's on Friday night. The only way I remember it was Friday was because we had to make we'd be there for Prime Rib Night—and that's only on Fridays and Saturdays. Prime Rib is Roomie's favorite.

Along with Morton's, the rest of the week is spent eating out at all the places most-missed during his 4-month deployment. Well, that and working out too. We're responsible fatties. We do, after all, have to get swole for Sydney. Mark your calanders, boys… 21 Feb – 7 Mar: Mardi Gras in Sydney. Be there.

Of course, aside from the eating and working out, we fit in the must-see movies of Nov and head out on the town for drinks, dancing and debauchery.

We do, however, take a break for a night and stay in for a spur-of-the-moment holiday project: Gingerbread Houses… everything from scratch.

Here are the finished masterpieces for your viewing pleasure:

It turned out really well, so hopefully we'll find an excuse to do it again next year. Think you've got what it takes to out-do us? Come play next time. It's very gay-fabulous… like Top Chef meets Project Runway all rolled into one; we did our best to "make it work". And yes, we even allotted 30mins for sketching.

2hrs left and the flight attendants are passing out the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture Plants & Animals Declaration Form. It's Hawaii's way of ensuring no one brings in anything to disrupt the ecological balance of all things native. Things they ask you to claim include fresh fruits and vegetables, insects, live fish, amphibians, reptiles, cultures of bacteria, fungi, viruses and such… basically if DB was here, I'd have to claim him. J Awww, I love you too, Dave.

Speaking of Daves, the "new" DMB album came out the other day. It's a compilation of studio releases from previous albums and a selection of live performances. It's a two-disc set aptly titled: "The Best of What's Around, Vol.I". Check it out—it's amazing.

Any DMB fan would be blown away, and I am no exception. As I listen to the album I sit back in my chair, relax and think…

it's a shame airlines are non-smoking…

it's all about the voice... :)

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 20:45:20 GMT

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
Boston
The Northeast
The West
The Inland North
The South
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Part II: Blackjack and Craps--Why you don't bet the plane, boat, or truck at the Casino

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 22:45:33 GMT

I wake up on Sunday morning an hour before my alarm is supposed to go off. I'm well-rested and it's one of those times when you realize you still have time to sleep and can't wait to pass out again. Content from the previous night's festivities, I lie back down and close my eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, the phone rings unexpectedly. It's my alert. Dazed and somewhat confused, I ask if she forgot to set her clock back an hour for Daylight Savings. Like it was the fifth time she heard that question, she says "yes" and tells me that it's 8:45am. I look at my clock and realize she's correct. It isn't until I show up at our alert facility an hour later that I find out our mission had been pushed up an hour. It's a short day to the Gulf Coast, so in the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal.

The flight to Bay St. Louis, MS is uneventful and we arrive in the early evening with our on-load team ready with our cargo. We spend the next few hours loading the jet with the 60,000lbs of cargo and 130,000lbs of fuel—by 9pm, we're complete and on our way to our hotel for the night: The Bay Tower Hotel at the Hollywood Casino.

We have about 20hrs off until we take off the next evening. It factors into account the almost 4hrs dedicated to our alert sequence and the mandatory 12hrs of crew rest, which gives us about 4hrs of "free time". At a casino, especially with me, that means drinking and gambling.

My Table Games of choice are Craps and Blackjack; I've also an affinity to slots on occasion. Tonight, D.K and I hit up the slots and then walk over to the Craps table. She doesn't know how to play, so we watch for a bit and I do my best to explain how the game's played. The table mins tonight are $10, a bit steep for a first-time player, so we opt to head back to the slots.

Wheel of Fortune or a derivative of that game is probably my favorite of the slots. It's the unexpected chance of landing the Free Spin that gives the game the added bonus. After I lose ten bucks, I decide to take a break and watch D lose the rest of her money. Content for now, being only down a little, we head to the bar where the rest of the crew is hanging out and belly up for some drinks.

Two drinks later, we're ready for more. This time, right before I'm about to lose again, I finally hit a Free Spin and I'm up thirty. Rather than walk away, I continue to play until I decide to call it quits with the slots for the night. I finally pull myself away from the Wheel of Fortune, $8.75 richer. Next stop… Blackjack.

Blackjack goes much better than the slots—the odds are better, so really there's no surprise. I go through two shoes and walk away with $115. A few more drinks with the crew and rather than calling it a night, I tempt fate again and drop a hundred at Blackjack to see how it goes.

I lose it all.

We leave the next morning well rested and I'm happy enough that I'm walking away from a casino in the black. Not quite as much as I could have, but up nonetheless.

The flight to Spangdahlem is just under 10hrs with an air refueling rendezvous about 4hrs into the flight. We arrive in Germany at around 11am, but the weather at Spangdahlem is far below the minimums to land since their precision Instrument Landing System is out of service until further notice. Twenty minutes later, we're landing at one of our divert fields for the day—Ramstein. The next three days go something like this:

Sit in alert for about 12hrs, get alerted out of that and fly to Iraq, drop stuff off, pick stuff up and fly to Greece. Refuel. Fly to Germany.

It's about 40hrs until I'm back in my room and I'm exhausted from an incredibly complicated day. I pass out and don't wake up until Friday.

The weekend is sadly spent sitting alert, so there's no time for any sight-seeing or mini trips-within-my-trip. Paris will just have to wait. To kill time, aside from eating and sleeping, I head out for a run and do a movie marathon.

X3, The Princess Bride, Clue, Pretty Woman, V for Vendetta, Amelie, Meet the Parents and X-Men pass before we get the final phone call.

We fly out for Charleston, SC tomorrow morning.

Week in Review Part I: the stuff Halloween is made of

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:51:11 GMT

I'll take you back to Friday at least. The days before that are muddled with work and shopping—not the really good kind of shopping that I'm typically associated with, but the one that happens only once a year: Halloween Costume Shopping. It wasn't until earlier in the week—maybe Tuesday—that I realized what I wanted to be for Halloween. If ever you could designate a "holiday" for the gays, it'd be Halloween. It's fairly evident that gay guys everywhere, at least in my experience, love to look good and are more often than not, fairly fashion-forward. So whenever the end of October draws near, it's no surprise that if any one group of people were to embrace all that is dressing-up in costumes of grandeur, it'd be us. You know we take it seriously when friends begin costume planning and preparations four to six months in advance. Yes, I'm being completely serious. The fact that it was merely a few days away from Halloween Weekend, I was clearly already months behind my peers and needed inspiration—and fast.

The epiphany came sometime after work during one of my leisurely lazy afternoons away from work where I like to slip away with a movie and "veg-out—you know, lay like broccoli?" That afternoon, the movie of choice was "the Emperor's New Groove"; a Disney Classic that never really got all that much press, but has been—since the day I saw it—one of my favorites in that genre. About half-way through the movie, I decided to be a mad scientist. Moments later, I was off to Home Depot to buy black latex gloves—because everyone knows a mad scientist looks his best in black latex.

Home Depot is an almost-have-a-house-but-it's-not-quite-finished-the-way-I-like-it person's paradise. Basically they have everything there, including the kitchen sink. Thank God I wasn't in the middle of some Bob-Vila-project and came out of the craftsmen's mega-store fairly unscathed. With black gloves in hand, plus a spur-of-the-moment purchase which included a white cover-all protective suit, I was well on my way towards my Martha Stewart evening of costume preparations. In dire need of a lab coat, I decided that the best alternative would be to purchase a butcher's apron and be all Project Runway and "make it work." I had passed by a food services superstore of sorts and figured if there were anyplace I could locate a butcher's apron, it'd be there. Finally with the basics of my costume in hand, I drove home—after stopping by Costco for a delicious all-beef hot dog. You really can't beat it for a dollar-and-a-half.

The rest of the week leading up to Friday's party consisted of changing the white cover-alls into a space suit by taking the sides in and free-handing the artwork onto the costume. Martha would have been proud. I decided that all I needed to be a mad scientist was the apron, gloves and crazy glasses—which I picked up on Friday afternoon. The final verdict on my costumes—space suit: yay; mad scientist: meh. You can come to your own conclusion.

*not shown is the left shoulder artwork of a patch with read: "ORBITAL MISSION: 311007 TO URANUS ...AND BUST!"

Friday. Jake's Birthday/Halloween/House Party was a riot. Everyone who attended had a blast—and the fact that the party started at 9:30 and lasted well into the morning was a testament unto itself. The majority of the party-goers left for Sugar, but the 221E crew—most of whom had been up since 6am—were tuckered out and needed to call it a night, especially since the next day would be more of the same.

Saturday. The rally-for-food phone call woke me up and we headed to 22 Doors on 15^th Ave for a nice, leisurely, and holy-shit-I-need-to-get-rid-of-this-hang-over brunch with the Canadians and, err… "Canadians" as Ian would put it. The portions were small, yet satisfactory, so when N.B. wanted to brunch as well, I didn't mind accompanying him and eating again. It was my first pho-for-bunch experience, and I think I'm adding the soup-base and water combination to my bag of tricks for "hang-over remedies".

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing for my trip that would leave on Sunday morning, so partying it up at Bump on Saturday night was strictly out of the question. Sad, i know.

Aside from packing, I had the duanting task of cleaning up the apartment since Ian would be returning from his deployment about the same time I'd be back from my trip. Having the apartment in shambles would be a serious roommate no-no... especially since he'd been gone for four months; a clean apartment is the least I could provide, right?

The cleaning and packing consumed the rest of the afternoon and Chris called just as I finished the last bit of the dining room dusting. I started with Ian's room and bathroom--which served as the guest room while he was gone; read "guest room" as "Dave's room"--and then worked to the foyer, my room and bathroom, family room, dining room and kitchen. The role of house-maid played by yours truly was complete.

Chris arrived and we left for sushi at Aoki--my last sushi stop for at least a couple weeks, and his first of many since Boeing would be flying him off to Japan and Korea for two weeks, all in the name of "work", "conferencing", and "business expenses".

After dinner, we went home and got dressed for what would be my final Halloween event for the year--dressing-up for work doesn't count. The party at C.T.'s had already started and we arrived just in time to let the Canadians in. Since Bump was that night as well, it didn't last quite as long as the previous night--for which i was grateful. The next morning came all too quick as I was alerted to fly an hour earlier than I had expected, even with the time change for the end of Daylight Savings Time.

pictures from the caribbean and south america...

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 01:16:24 GMT

for those of you who don't want to sit through the slideshow, here's a condensed version for your scrolling pleasure. enjoy!

(a textual version that describes each locale can be found here)

My week in the Grand Caymans, Bogota, and San Juan

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 10:35:50 GMT

(for pictures from this trip, check out the slideshow on my profile)

Tuesday, 17 Oct 06:

1. Fly to Albuquerque, NM. On the way, actually learn how to spell "Albuquerque".

"A-L-B-U-Q-U-E-R-Q-U-E" ...*ding!* (it's so very, "Akeelah and the Bee")

2. Check into the room, shower, change, and rally-up for dinner.

killer BBQ at Rudy's. we're on a pseudo-vacation, so spoiling oursevles with amazing food is a must.

3. Find some post-dinner entertainment.

The gambling bug bites us all, and we find a pretty swanky casino just outside the city... well, Neil's friend has to do a quick search for us online as we drive... "can you do a search for casinos in Albuquerque? ...sure... 'A-L-B-U-Q-U-E-R-Q-U-E'."
see? i told you there'd be a test later.

4. Win Big.

We take the house for a little over $200. Not bad for 45mins. Neil, the big winner, treats us to ColdStone.

Wednesday, 18 Oct:

1. Fly to Pope AFB, NC

drop stuff off, pick stuff up, yada yada yada...

2. Fly to Hunter AAF, GA. (it's pretty much Savannah, GA)

3. Find a place to spend the night.

No lodging on base = a night at the Marriott. yay for Reward Points.

4. Eat, drink, and be merry.

calamari for starters, mahi for the main course. yes, i had sweet tea.

5. Go to bed. Before that, watch a hilarious video on YouTube:

Thanks, Esteban.

Thursday, Oct 19:

1. Fly to the Caymen Islands.

We overfly Cape Canaveral, Key West, and make a hook around Cuba.

2. Check into our hotel.

No base? No problem. Marriott once more.

3. Enjoy the Caribbean.

we hot-tail it across the street to the beach and go for a swim--the water is amazingly warm, refreshing, and crystal clear. we hang out 'til the sun goes down.
dinner to follow is at a local restaurant (where i had my close encounter with eddie murphy). the menu looks fantastic, but sadly they're out of lobster bisque (they only had split pea or chicken soup--no thanks). they did, however, have goat curry and turtle steak. no, they were out of pulled pork, too.
after dinner, we roam around--it's the off-season so it's pretty much deserted. we happen across Senor Frog's--it's empty 'cause it's not spring break.
we find some amazing Rum Cake and stop-in at a Haagen Daz. it's my treat this time.

Friday, 20 Oct:

1. Fly to Columbia.

the weather's crap when we get into Bogota and we have to fight our way around thunderstorms during the in-between flight to Villavicencio. we're pro's so we get there unscathed.
on the way back to Bogota, the weather clears up and we get an amazing view of the city. before we leave, we pick up a bunch of coffee.

2. Fly to Puerto Rico.

it's 10pm by the time we land in San Juan, so we do our best to hurry to the hotel so we can salvage some part of the evening.

3. Hotel ritual.

No, we didn't stay at the Marriott. ...it's the Hilton this time. i flirt with the front-desk-dude as i ask to sign-up for the Hilton Reward Program. it was fun.

4. Food.

it's midnight by the time we rally. Nacha, Esteban's hottie girl-friend from way-back-when, now lives in San Juan and she takes us all out for dinner and drinks (the hyphen in "girl-friend" implies that she's a girl who's a friend, but not necessarily his girlfriend).

Saturday, 21 Oct:

1. Go to sleep.

Neil and I catch a cab back to the hotel and pass out. it's only 2am, but we want to get up early to hit the beach and do some sight-seeing before we fly out in the afternoon.

2. Wake up.

i woke up at 6am thinking it was already 10am (when we were supposed to rally for the beach). that's the best feeling in the world--waking up and realizing you have 4 more hours to sleep. comfy in my king-sized-hotel bed, i

3. Go back to sleep.

'til Neil call's me to wake me up... the phone rings and i have no clue where i am.
...that's a great sign of a good night's sleep. :) or alcoholism... i can never tell.

4. Beach!

it's self-explanitory, really.

5. Rally and head to the airport. Fly back home.

8.6hrs later, we're on the ground in WA.

and the award goes to...

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 04:23:46 GMT

just got back from seeing "The Departed" and was blown away.

i missed it on openning weekend since i was out of town, so hopefully all of you have seen it already. but if you're one of those who've yet to see it, make time this week, or weekend and check it out. i'm fairly certain Martin Scorsese will get another Oscar nod and hopefully take one away this time... he does, after all, deserve one.

it's gay movie night... all week!

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:54:50 GMT

the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival kicks off on Friday and runs 'til the 22nd.

here's a link to the schedule to see what's playing :)

if you need a suggestion and only have time for one, see BOY CULTURE (plays at the Harvard Exit Theatre on Sunday @ 9:15p). it was filmed right here in Seattle in the fall of '04!

p.s. i make a cameo in the film too! ;) go see it!

Germany, Iraq, and a weekend in Paris

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:40:46 GMT

1-2 Oct:

I leave Seattle for Colorado Springs and SMS Zach when we land to let him know I'm in town—don't call 'cause it's already midnight and he has to work early on Monday. We're only here for a fuel stop and cargo upload, so I don't have much time anyway. B's sister comes out to see the jet and drops off a batch of chocolate chip cookies—home-made. We fly out a few hours later for Huntsville, AL where we crew-rested before flying out to Germany. After being up for almost 20 hours, we're hungry enough to devour some of the unhealthiest Southern food you can imagine. But it's the South, so it's almost a requirement to have your food with a side of grease... and deep fried. With sweet tea. Sweet tea is a must.

We retire to our rooms and sleep the day away. Zach texts me at 8pm asking me how long I'll be in town—"already gone. *sad smiley face*" is all I reply with and fall back asleep. Our alert is at midnight and I'm exhausted from the day's festivities.

3-5 Oct:

We leave Huntsville and meet the tanker somewhere over the East Coast. On the way, we fly over NYC and I give everyone on the flight deck a quick overview of one of my favorite Cities. "K, see how the bay makes a 'V'? That's the East River and the Hudson… right. Yeah, that's Manhattan. That black spot in the middle of it… that's Central Park. …no, you can't see the Statue of Liberty from here… we're at 35,000'." Blah blah blah.

The tanker's late, so we meet them over Nantucket (apparently there once was a man from there) and do a couple turns in holding to make the timing match up and do an enroute rendezvous leading up to the A/R track. 80k on-load and we're off.

We land in Germany right before the field closes. It's cold, rainy, and German. Something like a preview of the upcoming winter in Seattle… minus the German. Sorta.

We're put into Bravo, billeted off-base. 24hrs later, we're released and placed in Charlie and we move back on-base. Shortly thereafter, we get set-up against a down-range line that leaves the next day. 20hrs later, we take off for Iraq.

6 Oct:

We take off right before the field closes, as scheduled. 220,000lbs later we're back in Germany right as the field opens the next morning minus one SEAL team and their cargo.

7 Oct:

I decide that we're not sitting around in Germany over the weekend if we have the time to sight-see. We check back into the same rooms we left 12hrs ago and I do some quick research. 2hrs later, I rally the crew and we leave for France. We're off for at least 24hrs before being set-up on another mission, and we're going to Paris.

PARIS, FRANCE.

We arrive at 7pm and check into our hotel—we cram into one room, but it's big enough for everyone. We're at the Marriott on the Champ Elysees. It's bad-ass and surreal all at once. It's Nuit Blache this week, so tonight is the last big blow-out. The streets are packed and the city is alive well into the morning. We walk down Av. des Champ Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, cross the Seine and watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle. Everyone's hungry, so we make our way to the Grand Corona Café on Place de L'Ama. Wine, cheese, bread, appetizers, entrees et al. We leave stuffed and content. Everyone is exhausted from being up since our alert the day prior and by the time we get back from dinner, we've all been up for at least 30hrs with maybe an hour or two of sleep. It's midnight and we started the day just outside of Baghdad and finished it in Paris.

8 Oct:

Everyone's in bed, but I'm not about to miss out on a Saturday night in Paris. I drink a cup of coffee and head out to join the Parisian night-life. The streets are packed well into the night and the shops on Av. des Champ Elysees are still open and inundated with well-appreciated patrons. It's still early by Paris standards when I arrive at Queen, so the club has yet to reach capacity. The music is great and the floor soon gets packed. The crowd's a bit more on the mixed side than I'm usually accustomed to, but I make do. I get a drink and walk around a bit and eventually run into Hottie Canadian. He just moved to Paris 5 weeks ago for his job, and has been having the time of his life since. He's well-traveled, intelligent, and hot. As in everyone's-type-kinda-H-O-T. We talk, drink, dance, drink, dance, dance, and dance. It's 4-o'clock and the club is still going, but I'm beat. We exchange contact information and he walks me out. The hotel is only two blocks away. I love Paris.

I get back to the room smelling like smoke and instantaneously miss Seattle. I shower before I hop into bed and don't fall asleep until 5am. The alarm goes off at 6:45am, but no one wakes up until 9am. We make our way to the Louvre after a quick bite to eat and do a quick tour of the museum exterior. We check out at noon and head back to Germany, all wishing we had more time to spend in Paris.

On the way home, we get our set-up call for the next day. We fly back to WA in 18hrs.

hot mess.

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 08:20:18 GMT

omg. so one of my very good friends is back in town from nyc. alls i can say is that we're headed towards a very fun-filled, drunken weekend. ...not that he hadn't already been partying like a rockstar for the past month.

...and not that our weekend has already started. :)

fashion week (more like fashion month) just wrapped up in the City. so needless to say, he's been up for the past day and a half with post-fashion-week parties and such until the cab picked him up for the airport; layover in L.A., dinner downtown and of course, drinks gallore in seattle.

come say hi this weekend ("weekend" being more like every night until i fly out on sunday morning) if you see us out. it's gonna be off the hook. it's wednesday and apparently the gay weekend has officially begun.

HOLLA!

wednesday festivities

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 00:24:59 GMT

i love good food. it's quite possibly one of the best way to win me over: appetizer, entree, dessert. easy in theory, quite difficult in execution.

if you're looking for a place in seattle to make your dining experience euphoric, make a reservation and dine at Crush. it'll blow you away.

to make the night even more spectacular, it was openning night for a certain show... and i had tickets.

i saw 'Wicked' at the Paramount on openning night.

it.

was.

awesome.

THE GAYS ARE INVADING!!!

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 23:54:53 GMT

hilarous clip from the Daily Show:

shameless self-promotion of steamy sexy cinema

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:51:05 GMT

look who's on myspace now!

BOY CULTURE (the official homepage)

the Pacific Rim Job

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:47:59 GMT

...or something like that.

just got back from the past week-ish of traveling and hanging out, relaxing and unwinding. it was definitely quite the West Coast whirlwind tour.

Portland on friday night was fun, and despite it being an "off-night" we ran into a good handful of friends who just happend to be in town as well. next on the agenda is to convince Eugene to head up even farther north to hang-out in seattle, portland is the farthest north he's been on the west cost.

LA was non-stop. flew in sat early evening and made a quick stop for sushi before heading out. Abbey, Here, and dancing at Rage followed before calling it a night. rolled out of bed on sunday to rush to the DGA for 'Eating Out 2' (awesome; go see it), then a late lunch at The Ivy. to aid in the digestion, we made a visit to the Beverly Center to go hunting for a new pair of sunglasses--and of course after stopping through 5 different stores, i finally found one i liked (thank you, prada). after a quick shower, change, and a walk down the road, we made it to the Ford Theatre for OutFest's Awards Night. pre-party, awards, 'Boy Culture' screening, party afterwards @ Shag, and then the after-after-party at a friends place kept us out until the sun greeted us. a quick nap and then i was off to Long Beach, after brunch of course, to pick up Chad and then it was off to the airport.

pack, repack and a nap, and then it was off to the airport again for Hawaii.

arrived back home-home on tuesday night and slept in for the first time in a loooooong time. it was the last time that week i'd get that much sleep. mucho family outings and dinners with grandma, my mom's side of the family, my dad's side of the family, and just mom dad and jos ensured i'd get all the great food i've been missing out the past few months away. beach, clubs, bars, shopping, birthday parties, dinner parties and parties in general topped the agenda. it's always great seeing old friends and making new ones along the way. this time around was no exception.

red eye on tuesday got me back to seattle early this morning. taking the day off to reaclimate, unpack, and get ready for tomorrow's day at work.

...it's wednesday; the weekend in seattle starts tonight. see you out and about.

btw, vancouver for the weekend anyone?

aaaaaaand we're back

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 04:25:23 GMT

so after a few months in an "undisclosed location in sw asia" and a handful of other places, i'm finally back in seattle.

the past few months were busy at times, mundane at others, and actually fun every so often.

since i got back, i've managed to catch up on a couple movies i really wanted to see that came out while i'd been gone, made the long-awaited visit to many a favorite restaurant, and have been doing my best to catch up with everyone. so i'm slowly getting back into the swing of things... the bags are half-unpacked and my crap is scattered across the apt, so i have yet to tackle that.

i have the rest of the month off and have already filled the time dedicated to relaxing and unwinding with... more traveling. so really, i have to unpack and then repack. *le sigh*

i'll be in portland tomorrow thru saturday, L.A. for the rest of the weekend until monday or tuesday morning at the very latest, and then in Hawaii until the following tuesday.

and now... i have to get ready to head out for drinks. if you're around seattle tonight, portland tomorrow, L.A. for the weekend, or in Hawaii next week, give me a shout and we'll chill and hang out.

see ya'll soon.

details, details, details...

Tue, 30 May 2006 16:53:16 GMT

i'm just back from dinner and a quick stop at the Base Exchange... the Wal-Mart of the military, if you will. while i was walking down the isle doing the infamous shelf-check, i happened to stop by the periodicals and was, as i often am, happy to find the two "gay-but-not-obviously-gay" magazines dutifully making their rounds.

...and as often as i say, "ha! i'm soooo blogging about that right now!", this time i really am.

first off, thank you to that person, whomever it is, who is responsible for deciding which magazines to "allow" circulation in and around this deployed location where your alcohol is rationed (3 drinks a day), and porn is a no-no (among other things). whoever you are, be it a him, her, they, them, committee or quaram, thanks.

thank you for 'Details' and 'Mens Workout'.

if you have no idea what i'm talking about, go to your nearest B&N, or where ever it is you lounge around to sift through your magazines of choice and check out the two aforementioned titles.

this month's issue of 'Details' contain, in very graphic detail, the story of the handful of army soldiers from Ft.Bragg (Fayettville, NC) who are currently being reprimanded for their involvement in ActiveDuty.com (gay porn site). for those who like pictures with their articles, there's also included a (almost) full page photo of a camo-boxer/brief-trunk-underwear-wearing model (nice ass).

check it out. yes yes... the article too.

but speaking of pictures... pick up any issue of 'Mens Workout'. it's seriously the "yeah, we're a fitness magazine, but really, we're just shy of soft-core porn" kinda magazine. it fronts as a fitness magazine (and yes, to their credit, they offer different types of 'workouts for men' to get in shape, tone up, and be all happy-happy-joy-joy), but as you flip through the "articles", you'll find something entirely different. what makes this magazine gay-er than the rest of the Men's Health, and other fitness magazines, is that there are actual ads for gay porn and the like. yes, i shit you not... check it out.

so yes, thank you, whoever you are. ...now if i can only figure out a way to...

HOME DEPOT SCAM!!!

Fri, 19 May 2006 05:28:35 GMT

my friend tom sent me an email today and i had to pass it along... please take note:

HOME DEPOT SCAM

A "heads up" for you and any of you who may shop at Home Depot.

Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping.

Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic.

Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you.

Here's how the scam works:

Two handsome 18 or 19-year-old guys come over to your car as you are packing your shopping in the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, then take off their t-shirts to dry the windshield.

It is impossible not to look at their lean muscular chest and ripped abs. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say "No" and instead ask you for a ride to another Home Depot.

You agree and they get in the back seat. On the way, they start having sex with each other. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and performs oral sex on you, while the other one steals your wallet.

I had my wallet stolen May 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, three times just yesterday, and very likely again this upcoming weekend.

Again - please beware!!

Tom

conversations and quoteables

Thu, 18 May 2006 09:26:03 GMT

10) "did you know they give out free ambien at the clinic?"

9) "did you hear he nominated himself for that award package?"

"no, but i think everyone's done something for their own benefit at one time or another--i voted myself MVP when i was in little league... i'm an excellent catcher. ...so to speak."

8) "i'm moving to paris."

7) "...wait, you're not hawaiian?!"

6) "what gives, man? why do they keep fucking us over like that? i think they're just racist to aircrews."

"uh, i'm pretty sure last i checked, 'aircrew' wasn't a race."

5) "...so i found out that they only can give out 20 pills every 60 days... i'm fucked. i can't sleep without them!!!"

4) "you know you have an extra quota to fill, right?"

3) "i dont know what 150 is about so i'll presume its your lucky number and say that mine is twelve."

2) "...hey, Brian... can you get me some pills?"

1) "so i get off of work at 7am, but i don't really get back to my room until 8-ish... by 9am i'm at the pool and workout for about an hour or so then lay out and when i dry off and it gets too hot, i take off and get lunch."

"i keep hearing Ryan calling it the sausage-fest..."

"oh, whatever... it's not that bad."

"haha... yeah, right... i've been there. i've seen it... it's pretty bad. i'm like one of five girls there."

*grins* "...yeah, ok... it's pretty bad..."

"...or not. it all depends, right?"

*big smile* "exaaaaaactly."

Geography 101

Sun, 14 May 2006 10:12:46 GMT

hello from Qatar. i'm about 10miles or so inland from the Persian Gulf, and about just the same distance from Doha.

go ahead. find it. put a pin in the map. congrats. Carmen SanDiego was here.

i'm just about settled into my new home-away-from-home, or my smaller-than-a-dormroom-room for the next few weeks. then it's a quick trip north to the mountains of the former soviet union.

...no rush, i'll let you know when i get there--you only get one pin in your map today.

i'm working the night-shift, so it's fairly easy for me to get in-touch with everyone back home... i guess you can call it one of the perks for being halfway around the world.

i'm very much working on my tan right now, so hopefully i'll be caught up with everyone else when i get back in mid-July. my schedule for the past couple days have been something along the lines of:

7pm - 7am: work

8am - 10am: workout (at the pool) and relax in the sun (at the pool)

...and yes, the scenery is veeeeeeeeeeeery nice. *sigh* i guess the whole "look, but don't touch" takes on a whole new meaning here...

somewhere from 10am-noonish, i'll grab a bite to eat then unwind before going to bed... waking up around 6pm to start the cycle all over again.

ok, so the whole 12hr-shift thing was only for a few days... we're back on 8hr shifts since we had one of the other guys hop on a flight to go play-around in and around the Middle East. i'm working on my normal shift from 11pm - 7am tonight... not bad at all.

the good thing about working nights is that you don't have to deal with the ridiculous heat during the day. it's around the 80's during the evenings, but will climb well into the 100's during the day. once the sun comes up, you're literally toast... and it's not even "summer" yet.

in any case, hope you all are doing well. 'til next time...

my summer vacation half-way around the world

Tue, 09 May 2006 14:13:29 GMT

i'm off to the middle east and southwest asia 'til mid-july. see you all when i get back... let the summer-travel-blogging begin!