Monday, March 31, 2008

Madonna Gets Ready to Conquer the World!

This woman is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! In less than 6 months, Madonna is going to be 50 years old and check out the picture above. This is the cover of the latest issue of Vanity Fair (her TENTH appearance on the cover of this publication). WHO looks this good at 50!?! DAMN! This is a huge year for my favorite music artist of all time. She has a new album in stores on April 29th called "Hard Candy." Her new single is turning out to be a huge hit called "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake and she is going to go on tour AGAIN this fall. Also, she has a huge greatest hits package coming out at the end of the year that will include all of her songs, videos, concerts etc! Age is nothing but a number and Madonna proves it! All hail the queen!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Zach wants to be a Rockstar!

Zach and I took a break from our long walk today and Zach wanted to dress up like a "Pirate Rockstar." So I thought I would play the hit single "Rockstar" by Nickelback. Zach really likes this song and always ask us to play it tin the car. Once I started playing the song, Zach started to dance like there's no tomorrow! This kid can move! I had a real hard time holding the camera still because I was laughing so hard - this is the cutest kid ever!!! What's even funnier is when Zach and I watched it back he took his performance very seriously and I was trying not to laugh because he was getting mad at me because I was laughing. He was like "don;t laugh at my dancing!" This film will be playing at Zach's wedding someday. Enjoy Zach and his performance below - try not to laugh too hard! I want to put it on YouTube, but I am afraid Zach will become famous from it!! LOL

Here's the link to it on YouTube...you can see it much better on YouTube, click on link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKxboh1BJi4




Friday, March 28, 2008

NO school tomorrow!


"No school tomorrow" was the first thing Zach said when I saw him! Ah remember those days of being so excited not having to go to school! Paul is in Boston for his brother Eric's wedding and Zach and I are hanging out this weekend. Zach was all painted up when I picked him up at school. We are going to explore the city tomorrow, go to the park and cook smores! Stay tuned for pictures from our weekend!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hall of Fame


At work, there is a "Hall of Fame" wall and everyone that is an employee of the month gets to be featured on this wall for as long as the agency is around. Everyone tries to do something different with the plaque they are given - I designed mine in one of those old fashion torture devices! LOL

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Instant Karma!

Above: Show me the money!! My new passport and my winnings!

After a tough beginning of the week, it all ended rather nicely. Paul and I had scheduled a trip to Vegas months ago to go to March Madness in Vegas and I was worried I wasn’t going to make it because of my kidney stones and the pain that went along with those lovely little stones. By Wednesday, I was almost 100% but not quite but I still flew out to Vegas that night anyway. I pretty much rested when we got there, we were both pretty much awake when we arrived around 8pm and wanted to walk around the city. Our good friend Kevin had arrived hours earlier but could not check into the room, so by the time we got there, Kevin spent 5 hours or so in the casino gambling and drinking he was plum tuckered out and passed out by 9pm.:-)

Thursday - I felt good and was happy that the stones were literally a thing of the past! Kevin, Paul and I were wrapped up in the excitement of March Madness and had a blast just hanging out in the casino and gambling. That night, two more of our friends, Troy and Richard had arrived and it was great to see them and we just hung out at Mandalay Bay and played a bit on Roulette and Blackjack.

Above: Troy, Me and Richard enjoying a nice meal!

Above: A blurry Kevin (sorry these photos were taken with my iPhone) and a very handsome Paul at dinner!

Friday – I was feeling okay - I was still taking it easy and not doing anything out of whack. Paul, Richard, Troy and I all decided to spend the day at the Mandalay Spa. It was JUST what I needed. I got an hour-long massage and hung out for several hours in a nice warm hot tub. It was awesome!! We all really didn’t want to leave but we were getting pretty hungry and our bodies were looking like prunes from sitting in the hot water. That night we went to a really fancy steak house and pigged out on some delicious foods - savory steaks and great side dishes. It was the best! Finally, I felt I could eat a good meal and not worry about getting sick. We gambled a bit more after that and I was down a few hundred bucks so I was hoping to rebound the next day.

Above: Ahhhhhh, the spa..how inviting!

Saturday – Our last full day in Vegas, it was 80 degrees and I wanted to try and get a little color on my pasty white ass. So Kevin, Paul and I decided to go to the pool and lie out for a few hours. Well, when we got there the place was jammed packed and there was no room for us to lie out. I was pretty pissed and I was pouting around and being a bit bitchy. I stormed off and walked around the casino, not only couldn’t I lie out but also I was down about $500.00 now and I was just cranky. I got a text message from Paul saying there was a casino by the pool and we should hang out there and chill. I reluctantly went back to the pool, but I am so glad I did! Kevin and I saw and empty Craps table and we decided to try our luck. I pulled out my last $100.00 I was going to spend while I was in Vegas and borrowed another from Kevin to play Craps. As the table started to fill up we were doing pretty well and then it came to Kevin’s roll. In my many times of playing Craps I never saw anyone roll so well. I had all my money on the table and it was make it or break it….Kevin ended up rolling the dice for over 35 minutes!!! If you’re not familiar with Craps - that’s an amazing amount of time to roll the dice.

Above: Kevin and his lucky hat. We were both rubbing the shamrock before we rolled the dice!

After Kevin was done rolling I was next, Kevin and I seriously were saying it was his Irish green Boston Red Sox hat that was giving him the luck so I decided to try wearing the hat and rolling. I rolled for about 10-15 minutes or so and by the time I was done. I had made $2,300.00!!!!!! I was sweating and shaking I was so excited that I had made that much money!! Kevin also made a ton of money, more than I did! So I paid Kevin back his money and I owned Paul a few bucks and I paid myself back the $500.00 I lost the previous few days and it turned out I had made $1,500.00! My best Vegas pull yet! We were all pumped at the day and it only continued to get better. We decided to play Blackjack at this cozy bar in the Luxor. It was a cool set up with a rounded couch at the table and we ALL made money at the table. The dealer was "family" so it was a blast playing and laughing. I brought in another $800.00!! So my total winnings in Vegas ware around $2,300!! GREAT TRIP!!!

So, I am off to work tomorrow and I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things!:-) Zach is also coming over tonight to see what the Easter bunny brought him!!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The "Stoner"

Above: Me falling out of the tree.

Hanging upside down in that tree over the weekend and dropping to the ground like I was 15 years old was not a wise thing (see pictures below to see what lead up to me being rushed to the hospital). I went to work this past Monday feeling a bit under the weather but I didn't want to call out sick because I was taking two vacation days later this week. So I went to work but I was having pains in my back and testicles. Very weird pain but I figured it was just from being overly active this past weekend.

Above: Me falling to the ground, notice I land on my RIGHT SIDE,
this jogged the kidney stones I had, causing me much pain. Oye!


At lunch time, I went for a walk with my friend Maggy, to a local grocery store called "Mollie Stones" to get some lunch and when I got back from lunch I felt great. I was feeling back to my old self and had just finished a yummy lunch. No sooner after I started feeling better a stabbing pain went shooting from my lower back on the right side all the way down my leg, up through my chest and my arm. I was in so much pain I had no idea what was going on. I tried to call Paul but I could barely dial the phone. I was having hard time breathing and I could barely talk. I went to get out of my chair at work and just crumbled to the ground losing feeling on the right side of my body. I thought I was having a stroke. As I fell to the ground I saw a co-worker, Audry, and tried to get her attention. Thank you so much Audry for helping me and calling an ambulance to help me figure out what the hell was happening to me. :-)

Above: Drugged up in the hospital.

After I was carried out of my work on a stretcher I was still in so much pain, I was crying and not understanding what was going on. The EMT's were telling me it was a kidney stone. I had never had a kidney stone, I had no idea what they were but I was not buying it because I didn't think it could cause so much pain. My pain was a 9 on a scale of 1-10. So they shot me up with morphine in the ambulance and I was brought to the hospital. I was out of it after the morphine but I had to have a cat scan because there was blood in my urine and it could have been an injury when I feel out of the tree over the weekend.

Thankfully, it was just kidney stones BUT these things fucking hurt!! Imagine taking a straw and trying to push a round stone through the straw all the way to the other end of the straw until it comes out. P A I N F U L! It's crazy. So after the exam my doctor said I am a "stoner" and that it's hereditary and in my genes. My grandfather had problems with it, he died at a young age from rectal/colon cancer and I remember my father having problems with kidney stones as well. So, it’s something I will always have BUT I can prevent it by drinking more water, I feel I drink a tone of water as it is, but it looks like I have to drink more. I don't drink coffee, soda or anything with caffeine. The doctor said if I did, I could have had several more stones.

Above: Sleeping beauty.

So, I am ok. I am still a bit week, but I am thankful it was nothing serious. It was scary and a bit embarrassing having to be taken from work to the hospital but I am glad I am ok. A huge thanks to everyone at work that helped me and was there to support me in anyway. You guys are the best! See you all soon.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Spring has Sprung!

Above: The warm weather had me hanging from trees!

YAHOO! Yesterday, Paul Zachary and I went to the discovery museum in Sausalito and it was a GLORIOUS day! We had a blast! The weather could not have been more perfect, not a cloud in the sky, nice cool breeze and it was around 70 degrees. We are hoping some of this awesome weather heads to our friends and family in Boston. Check out the fun we had below!


Above: Herrrrrrrrrrre's Zach!

Above: Are those real crabs?

Above: Laughing at the "fake" crabs.

Above: Zach's infectious laugh!

Above: Zach is rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty.

Above: Climbing to new heights.

Above: What an amazing view!

Above: Another great view!

Above: Discovering.

Above: Little House on the Prairie.

Above: Zach and me! No, I am not going bald, I dyed my hair blond and I am under the suns rays!

Above: CHEESE!

Above: Actin' silly!

Above: Inside of a very old tree.

Above: The long haul.....

Above: How does Zach measure up? Almost 42" high!

Above: Zach takes a rest on a whale.

Above: Paul and Zach are sitting on a rat!

Above: Last photo of the day. What a face!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Beaded Jockstrap


Life in the Shadows - The Making of Daisy Kenyon is my third Joan Crawford documentary that I appear in. This documentary is on the DVD release of the film Daisy Kenyon that was released on March 11th! I am very pleased with this documentary - it was filmed so beautiful and given a real Noir look to it. Anyway, I am featured a few times in the doc and one part I am talking about a beaded jockstrap that Joan Crawford gave to her co-star, the magnificent Henry Fonda. Joan Crawford had the hots for Henry Fonda in 1947 while making this film. Joan was a single woman at the time and she was very sexual woman in general. She had this jockstrap made for Fonda and when he opened it he had no idea what the hell it was.

Above: Henry Fonda and Joan Crawford get close in "Daisy Kenyon."

Later in the filming process there was a scene where Fonda had carry Joan up the stairs and Crawford whispered in Fonda's ear "how about you try on that little item I gave you later tonight?" Fonda was so taken back by Joan's aggressiveness that he almost dropped her! Very funny story. Anyway, it was a great experience and I am thrilled that I have three documentaries under my belt. I have already put the feelers out for future projects!:-)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Silly Goose

This past weekend Zach was in high spirits and was acting wild and crazy, check out some of the video clips below! He's one happy kid!:-) So in the first clip Zach is making funny faces at the camera and saying hello to people and the second clip is a clip of Zach saying hello to Auntie Bubbles!

Friday, March 7, 2008

The Power of the Internet

Above: The fall of 1978, I am in the middle( age 4) with my girlfriends Linda and Laura. Laura is on the right. I look like a little old man.

The Internet is really a powerful tool. Just think before the Internet, if you wanted to find someone from your past you would have to do a lot of leg work, on phones, libraries and such. Today, you goggle someone and you can find him or her. That's just what a childhood friend of mine did recently. From the ages of 2-5, I hung around and was watched by these two twin girls named Linda and Laura. They were seven years older than me and my mother used to watch them and they in turn eventually watched me. I really connected with them and they were like my big sisters and I was like their little...sister:-)

Anyway, I had not seen either of these girls in about 28 years!! I got an email recently from Laura telling me she was searching my name on Google and found me. She told me how she always thought about me over the years and carried a photo of me at age 5 in her wallet. I was shocked to get the email and we talked on the phone for several hours. She told me so many things about my childhood that I didn't remember. She asked me if I still loved the music group Heart!! I laughed so hard and told her I saw them in concert in 2007:-) She also said that she was not surprised that I was gay; she said she knew I was gay when I was 4 years old. Funny, it really just proves the theory that people really are born gay and the fact that I loved playing with Barbie doll!:-) Laura sent me the picture above, it was for a newspaper that were featuring twins and I was watching them being photographed for the newspaper and the photographer saw me and asked me to get in the picture with the girls. I was so thrilled and the photo was on the front page of the paper. I still remember how excited I was seeing it in the newspaper. It was great connecting with Laura and talking about that little window of time we shared together.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

IMDb


This is pretty hilarious. Since I was in the featurettes/documentries on Joan Crawford recently I am now featured on IMDB with my own personal page. I was notified of this and had to add photos and a brief bio (which has not been confirmed yet). Pretty funny! Click the link below to check out the actual page.

Photographs were taken by the talented Patrick Lentz!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Happy Birthday to me...continued...

Above: Zach and me blowing out the candles.

So my birthday was filled with wonderful things. I was in LA for half of my birthday. I went to a UCLA event in LA; they were honoring Joan Crawford so I HAD to go to that. I met many people that personally knew Joan and many historians. It was a great time and I met some new Joan friends that are truly amazing people. I was taken out to breakfast on my birthday in LA at this amazing place called Musso and Franks Grill. It's the oldest restaurant in LA, it was established in 1919 and it pretty much STILL looks like it did in 1919. Everything was amazing, Joan used to frequent this restaurant a lot. The food was out of this world I highly recommend this place. Then I was given several Joan photos as well for my birthday that will make a great addition to my every growing collection.


Above: In LA at the Joan Crawford Tribute, author Charlotte Chandler,
Academy Award Winning actor, Cliff Robertson and me!

Above: That's Cliff Robertson in 1956 with Joan Crawford in the film "Autumn Leaves."



Above/Below: Inside Musso & Franks Grill


When I got back home to SF, Paul had planned a nice dinner somewhere but before we left Paul had a gift for me. A new iPhone!! I am thrilled - the only problem is I am trying to hook it up and I am having problems. Sigh. I don't think I'll be able o keep my old number that I have had for over six years! Eh, it's time for a new number anyway. So after that Paul wouldn't tell me where we were going, it was a surprise. The place we arrived at was called Asia SF and I had never heard of it. As we entered a very attractive woman seated us but I thought something was off about her and I looked at Paul and said she seems "different" but Paul shrugged it off. So we were seated at the best two seats in the house. The place was really cool looking with trendy lights and hip bar tenders, our table was right at the bar.

Above: The Bar at Asia SF.

Above: Yes, that is a man!

AS the night went t on I noticed all the "women" walking around the bar were very hoochie mama looking. Then I got a closer look and realized all these hoochie women were not women at all they were men, transvestites. I started laughing and finally realized what the restaurant was. After we ordered our food the "women" started doing there little shows on the stage in front of us and it was highly entertaining as you can see from the pictures below. The place was packed with all walks of life; even people from Paul’s company were there. It was a great time and the food was amazing. Paul was flirting with the bartender Ben, so I think that’s how we got free drinks or it could have been the fact that they kept announcing my birthday along with several other birthday babies at the restaurant. We ended up getting about 4 drinks for free, each!

Above: Yummy drinks and amazing desserts!

Above: TINA!

Above: Ben the bartender.

The next day after work I picked up a cake because I promised Zach we would have a mini party and cake and he wanted to blow out my candles. So I got a yummy cake and we blew out the candles together. Zach got me two gifts, one was an amazing card he made at school that I will keep forever, it's so sweet it brought tears to my eyes AND he bought me a figure of "the Crazy Cat Lady" from the television show, The Simpson’s! I love it. There are many crazy cat ladies in the world, that’s why I love the character on the show so much. She yells at people and throws cats at them! It's hilarious. I think the real life crazy cat lady was bit by a cat on her legs/feet and couldn't walk for a while and was wheelchair bound. Seriously that's a true story, how hilarious is that? I swear it's not made up; I couldn’t make something as ridiculous like that up! HA HA! Cuckoo!



I also got gifts at work, thanks Mags! Many cards from family and friends. Thanks Nic and thanks Ruthie for the card and gift!