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Thursday, February 3rd, 2005
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6:41 pm
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I have been promoted to HR Manager at the Hyatt Regency Miami. My last day in Phoenix is February 16 and I will begin my new position in Miami on February 18. I will also assist in the HR function of the new Hotel Victor, which opens on South Beach in the next several weeks.
Kinda quick, eh? I guess that's why they say Hyatt stands for Have Your Ass There Tomorrow!
No words can describe the emotions I am going through right now. Just a couple weeks ago, I was thinking how I was without a doubt the happiest I have been since moving here 2 years ago. But now I'll be starting all over again....I don't know a single person in Miami.
Making this especially difficult is the fact that this means I will be leaving my boyfriend, Justin. We've only been dating for a little over 2 months now, but we've grown dramatically closer of late. We've both acknowledged that it doesn't make sense for him to move right now, and that it also would be a bad idea to try to make a long-distance relationship work. The crazy thing is that he's seriously thinking about moving when his lease expires in August. Don't get me wrong, I would love that more than anything, but I hope it's the right thing for him. But yeah, I do really hope he does. :o)
Here's to another challenge....
Hyatt Regency Miami
Hotel Victor
current mood:  anxious
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| Sunday, January 30th, 2005
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12:44 pm - Big News to Come
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There's some big news coming in the next 24-48 hours. Nothing's official yet, so I don't want to jinx myself by saying anything. I'm sooooooo excited but every bit as nervous and scared. Stay tuned....
current mood: anxious
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, December 13th, 2004
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12:00 am - Surprising....
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I thought I would be Michael Novotny, but I was wrong.
You are Brian Kinney. "The stud of Liberty
Avenue," you do what you want, when you
want. Your motto is "no apologies, no
regrets" and you live life to the fullest,
even if it means stepping on the feelings of
others to get your way. Despite this however,
you do love those who deserve it, although you
have strange ways of showing it. You can't do
anything halfway, and believe people should get
what they deserve, no more, no less.
Which Queer as Folk character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, December 11th, 2004
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12:51 pm - NOW I'll talk about my car
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Since I didn't get to it last post....
Several of you are aware that I've been considering buying a new car. I had my eyes on a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster, and even went so far as to go to the dealership, test drive it, and negotiate a bit just for fun. This probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but considering my dad is a car dealer and could get me one for probably $10,000 less than anyone else, it would be silly for me to buy one elsewhere.
So anyway, last Saturday evening I was headed home from an extra day of work, and traffic was being re-routed due to a freakin' Christmas parade. It was so retarded that they were trying to have a parade because it was like 45 degrees and pouring down raining. For Phoenix, this is absolutely hellacious weather. They should have just cancelled it. Perhaps then I wouldn't have gotten in a wreck.
It sucked really bad. We pulled off to the side and she got out and didn't know any English at all. She just kept saying "I scared, I scared, I scared, I scared...." And I didn't know what to say either. I looked at her car and there wasn't even a mark on it, which is funny because it was way smaller than my truck, which had a pretty messed up bumper. I honestly think she was illegal and just wanted out of there REALLY bad, so I just said we should go since her car didn't have any damage.
So now I'm stuck with $1-2k of damage on my truck, and my dad insists that I need to leave it and once my truck is paid off I should sell it. But that's another 2.5 years!! I never wanted the truck to begin with, as I only bought it because it was brand new and only had a $190/mo payment. It's definitely had me in a shitty mood for the past week, among other things.
current mood:  depressed
current music: "Call on Me" by Eric Prydz
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| Sunday, December 5th, 2004
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2:42 pm - LA Recap, New Car, & stuff
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Spent last weekend in LA for Thanksgiving. It's a shame I can only make it on long holiday weekends, because it seems that most times I make a trip like that, many people I want to meet are out of town. In any event, I had a great time all weekend. Seth ![[info]](http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/web.archive.org/web/20050215063805im_/http:/=2fstat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ucpsychguy hosted me for pretty much the whole weekend. I did have a room for the first night at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, where I had an AMAZING suite that I never slept in and spent all of about 2 hours in total. Seth and I enjoyed the jacuzzi immensely though when we made the long trek down from West Hollywood for me to check out. =)
I got in late Wednesday evening at like 10pm. Originally had planned to hang with allaboutnumber2, but as usual he wasn't allowed out because of his parents. Robert, this goes straight to you.....I think you're an incredible guy and would love to get to know you better. But I think it is really a shame that you allow your life to be ruled so needlessly by your family. They are limiting you in ways they don't know, but I think you DO know. Whenever you are finally able to lead your own life, give me a call.
Anyway, because Robert wasn't able to join me, I drove up to West Hollywood where Seth was throwing a small party at his apartment. Met some fun people there, but eventually crashed toward the end of the party because I was mucho tired after the 8 hour drive and considering I had been up since 5am that day. Thursday was Turkey Day.....I totally forget what I did all day (failing memory in my old age), but I know we went to Seth's family's place to eat and such. Spent a long time there, but had a surprisingly good time. I think his family liked me even though I tried to eat the pumpkin pie ahead of time and got yelled at. I LOVE pumpkin pie!
Friday we slept in, eventually got up and had brunch, walked around West Hollywood, went shopping at the Bev Center, ate dinner at Grand Lux, etc. Went to the Abbey that night, where I got mega-hammered because bartender (Shane??) gave us free drinks and I kissed him for it. =P He promised he'd remember my name when I move there, but we'll see. I forget his, so I didn't hold up my end of the bargain. Apparently I promised Seth and some guy named David that I would work out at Barry's Boot Camp at 10am the next day. I am so retarded for that. I ended up still being drunk at that time and had to go into a back alley and puke. I did win a free T-shirt and got a round of applause for it though! HA! Silly David (whom I don't even remember) didn't even show up though, so we technically could have skipped out on it.
Other than that, on Saturday, we hung out with Mikey princemike for brunch, who I thought was really cool, but who also hasn't returned my text messages or IMs since. I don't think he likes me, but maybe that's just my self-consciousness coming out. Aaron polaris_a, who is late for everything, joined us at the very end, and hung with us back at Seth's for a while to watch Circuit. They all were insisting that while I'm a cute little innocent boy now I'm going to be a big druggie wreck within a year. LOL.....they were taking bets on how long it would take me to catch the WeHo disease. I think Seth gave me the shortest time.....4 months. David davidology gave me a year, so I thank him for having faith in me. Sheesh!
By the way, I FINALLY did hang ever-so-briefly with David and his roomie (Mike???) Saturday night and Sunday morning. I was afraid after the first couple of days I wouldn't get to see David, since he was busy moving and all. Glad I finally did though. I really dig David and hope we can be good friends at the least down the road. Seth, Aaron, David, and I had dinner at the Gaucho Grill (I believe in Santa Monica) that night, and then went to David's place for some recreational activities and for me to pass out while they watched Scary Movie 3. I'm disappointed that I passed out so soon. Number one, I missed seeing the total hottie Simon Rex in the movie. Number two, I didn't get to meet the HoHo crew as planned. I only really talk to mrpunk2u and saidforfake of that bunch, but I wanted to meet them really bad. They sounded very nice when I talked to them on the phone, and I will definitely make it a priority to meet them next time I'm in the area.
Anyway, I'm sick of writing.....I have a TON of other stuff to talk about, but that'll have to wait for a couple days at least. But last of all, Seth, thank you SO much for your hospitality and taking good care of me last weekend. I really think you're an incredible guy and think it's a shame we live so far away from each other right now. But the future comes sooner than we think....
current mood:  bouncy
current music: "Surrender" by Lasgo
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(34 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, November 14th, 2004
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10:51 pm
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I finally wrote a post for the first time in 2 months, and then it got deleted! Grrr...
Take 2: I hope everyone has had a great 2 months. Sorry I've fallen out of touch with many of you. Life has been very good though. I've kept busy, both at work and socially, despite living on a limited income because I was overpaid the first 8 months of the year and am now paying it back. I'm definitely looking forward to 3 raises in the next 6 months.
I'm hoping that some of that extra money will go toward buying a new car. My old 2003 S-10 just isn't "me." I'm looking at a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire Roadster. If I can figure out how to post a pic of it on here without losing my post again, I will do so later. :)
Work is great for the most part. Very busy, but in a good way most of the time. I am starting to feel like I have a lot of sway with the managers of the hotel. In many ways, I feel like I have a ton of influence on the operation of the entire company, as I pretty much determine the staffing across the board, and tell them who to hire. The bad news of work is that I am getting a random OFCCP audit by the US Dept of Labor this month. Lots of meetings with corporate lawyers and such to prepare this week. Definitely not fun.
I'm counting down the days until I am "promotable." Technically speaking, I can be promoted after January 19th. Realistically, it could happen sooner, though as it approaches I am hoping that it takes its time and am looking more at late spring before I would be moving. Most likely to Los Angeles. I am not in any hurry though. It's hitting me what a great life I have here in Phoenix. Very affordable living, great friends, great weather, etc, etc....I said the same thing in Ohio though (okay, except about the weather).
Speaking of Los Angeles....I will be visiting there next weekend for Thanksgiving weekend. I already have plans to spend time with ucpsychguy, allaboutnumber2, polaris_a, and I assume davidology, if he ever calls me back. (call me!) I am hoping to meet beachboyty, doppelgang18, fivebyfive, kerouacvictim, mrpunk2u, princemike, punkdhiver, saidforfake, and surferboyy while I am there. I've met a couple of you, but most of you are still relative strangers. Anyway, the plan is to arrive Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and spend the night in Huntington Beach. I expect to spend some time with allaboutnumber2 on Thursday before meeting up with ucpsychguy in the afternoon sometime and heading to his family's place for Thanksgiving dinner. After that, my weekend is generally open and I expect to spend much of my time in the WeHo area, though I'm open to anything. I am sure that either Friday or Saturday night will find me at the Abbey, though I don't know which. Anyway, if you're on this list leave me a message or give me a call so we can make plans.
Now let me work on trying to post the picture of the car I want.....
current mood: busy
current music: "Nothing Fails" by Madonna
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(53 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, September 12th, 2004
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1:21 pm - Thank goodness my friends are normal =)
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| Wednesday, September 1st, 2004
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11:03 pm - Ugly People :)
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I will do a full update this weekend, but for the time being, I have one random question....
Has anyone ever noticed that 99% of the time, when you meet someone from LiveJournal whom you think is completely hot, they turn out to look NOTHING like their LJ pics? Why is this?? Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I honestly think I look better in real life than on LJ (but then I also think my pics on here look like sheeeeoit).
Anyway, just thinkin' out loud. Goodnight!
P.S. - Time for a 4-day weekend! One more day!
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(67 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, August 21st, 2004
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5:41 pm
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Yikes! I've been completely out of touch with everyone. It looks like I'm probably not going to LA after all.....of the 5 or so decent friends I have there, 2-3 of them are probably going to be out of town. On top of that, every Hyatt is sold out for that weekend. PLUS, I can't really afford it right now. That's a triple-whammie! =) I'll have to try again later.
Unless someone out there has some overwhelming reason why I should definitely make it to LA on Labor Day weekend (if you do, speak up!), then I'll probably just enjoy the 4-day weekend relaxing here in Phoenix.
In other news, I have started (emphasis on started) looking to see what jobs are coming open at other Hyatt hotels around the country. I likely won't be going anywhere until the first half of next year, but my recent paycut has me itching to both get promoted sooner and make more money. Yes, I said paycut. Basically, it was discovered that I've been getting overpaid, so they had to cut my pay for the rest of the year pretty drastically. It really sucks, believe me. What's surprising to me is that I, of all people, didn't catch that they were overpaying me for like 6 months. You'd think I would have broken my checks down to make sure I was making the right amount, but I never did. That is so unlike me!
Regarding my next job....I have my fingers crossed that I can make the leap directly to Assistant HR Director. However, the reality is that I am probably not ready, and there are only a couple of hotels (with which I have an "in") that would consider me for that. If I were willing to spend a year as a Benefits Manager (which I should), then I can pretty much go anywhere I want to. Right now, I am looking at both possibilities. We'll see what transpires.
Last but not least, I have stopped going out very much, drink very little, and joined LA Fitness and have been working out a lot. I hope this continues! I have a strong feeling I'm going to stay committed this time, but we'll see.
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| Friday, July 30th, 2004
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8:24 pm - LA Trip Upcoming
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I have scheduled a trip to Los Angeles for Labor Day weekend. I will arrive late on the night of Thursday, September 2nd and leave Monday, September 6th. Anyone wanting to host me, join me, or whatever else with me is more than welcome.
I will call to see if I can get another suite at the Hyatt West Hollywood or Park Hyatt LA like I did last time. Otherwise, I'm sure that one of you out there will be happy to take care of me. =)
I am looking forward to seeing some of you I haven't seen in a while, and meeting some others I haven't met yet.
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(21 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, July 24th, 2004
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8:17 pm - L.A. Trip & Loneliness
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I think I'm going to dump the idea of making it to Vegas anytime soon and just plan a trip to L.A. around my birthday (August 30th). Anyone there want to throw a huge birthday bash for me? I know you do! I might look into the possibility of getting a free suite at the Hyatt West Hollywood like I did last time. Unless someone wants to put me up who lives in that area, which I wouldn't mind either.
Also, it's Saturday night and I'm bored silly. I don't think that's happened in like....well, um....I can't remember the last time that happened. Anyone wanna come visit? I'm in one of those weird anti-social moods where I don't want to make the effort of calling anyone or making plans to go out, but someone stopping by would totally relieve me of my depressed mood right now.
I've had a lot of people express an interest in dating over the past couple of weeks. But as lonely as I feel lately, I am not prepared to just go out on a whim. I've dicked around too much, gone on dates with people whom I knew the first time we talked were not meant to be. I'm done with that. The only question is: when will the right one come along?
I guess in a lot of ways I still need to decide what is going to make me happy in life.
current mood: lonely
current music: "Why Georgia" by John Mayer
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| Saturday, July 17th, 2004
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5:38 pm - Getting Cheated On (and being strangely happy for it)
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First off, I don't think I mentioned in my last post that I was heading to San Diego last weekend. I took a week off work (thank God!) and went with my friend Ned to San Diego for 3 days. It was a blast. We relaxed on the beach a lot, drank a ton, and I came back with bright blonde hair, which nearly got me fired from work upon my return. I had to color it back, and got an indirect lecture from my GM about how he thought I was a great young manager and he was disappointed in my "22-year old behavior." Oh well, it's over now and he was joking about it with me yesterday.
Regarding the cheating thing (thus the title of this post).....it turns out that on my first night back in town from San Diego, Zac attempted to cheat on me. This in and of itself doesn't surprise me. I half expected a friend to tell me they saw him out with someone else over the weekend. What DID surprise me was that he had done it with one of my best friends, Andrew. Of course Andrew got awkward, left the bar, and called me. What else should Zac expect?? Andrew had me come over to tell me about it right away, and while I was at his house, Zac text messaged and called, asking him to go out the next night and such.
When I confronted Zac about it, first he played dumb, then went into denial & blamed it on Andrew, and then finally began to attack me and called me "another drama queen", and said he thought I was different from all of the others. Did he mean that I was different in that I would allow him to cheat on me with my best friend?? I guess I just didn't follow that one. In the end, he apologized and said he hoped he didn't hurt me. He did, but in the end I think I am better off. Clearly I have lost a boyfriend, but not much of one if he's going to cheat on me like that.
There is one thing I have continually noticed over the past 6 months though....why is it that I am happiest when I am single, and yet I spend all of my existence trying to find someone to love and spend the rest of my life with??
current mood:  blah
current music: "I Surrender" by Laura Pausini (Mike Rizzo Remix)
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(101 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, July 7th, 2004
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6:30 pm - Crossroads
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Life has been a blur as of late. It has been a hodge-podge of people, places, events, and changes. I'll simplify it here:
Work is Blah. Too much work, not enough time or money. I'm somewhat disenchanted with it. I need to figure out if a long-term "career" with Hyatt is what I really want. I'm contemplating buying a house, fixing it up, and renting it out, marking the unofficial start of my real estate investment career.
Friends are Fun. I've been hanging out with my friend Ned a lot, and Andrew & Joe a little bit. Ned mixes paint at Home Depot and wants to get a job at the Hyatt. Andrew works night audit at a hotel and wants to work at Hyatt. Joe is a bartender and definitely does not want a job at the Hyatt. Ned and I are going to San Diego this weekend. I think Ned has a crush on me, but he's respectful enough to not push it, because.....
Boyfriend is Great. I've been dating a guy named Zac for about a month. It's been unusual so far. I came in with no expectations. I now have a few because it's been a month. I don't know what they are though. That is kind of confusing. Zac is interesting. He works as a manager at a trendy restaurant here in downtown Phoenix. He wants to move to NYC. He said I should come too. I don't think we are that serious yet. Some days it seems like we are serious. Other days it seems like we are just friends. Zac is pretty hot. He treats me like gold. I'm not in love with him though. Will I be?
Overall I'm happy, but things are very complex right now.
current mood:  happy
current music: "I'm Ready" by Cherie
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(14 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, June 12th, 2004
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8:05 pm - Back to Life (and dating??)
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I decided to finally put some of my experiences from the past month or so into writing, lest they be lost in time.
Over the past month or so, I've finally started to develop some of the close, "real" friendships that I had been seeking ever since I moved to Phoenix. About 2 weeks ago, before my trip to Ohio, I was sitting here in the apartment alone, and just thought to myself for the first time in a long time..."I am happy today." It is a very nice feeling. I've been spending significant time with Andrew, Joe, Jesse, Wil, Ned, Nic, Joanie, Mike, Marisela, and Renee, and I'm starting to feel like I always have people to be with, and that I have a niche here.
And last night at Amsterdam, it really hit me that I was able to just plain spend time with people as opposed to flying around the bar trying to meet people. For the first time since I lived in Ohio, I actually felt like I knew enough people there to be comfortable hanging with one group of people until others ventured along that I knew.
The only concern I have right now is over my dating future....
After brief glimmers of hope that something might work out with Ned and a couple of others that, realistically, weren't my type, I have gone on several dates with a guy named Zac over the past 2 weeks or so. I've been "single" for 2 months now, and I think that singleness is a big part of the reason why I've been so much happier lately. Zac is a really cute guy, and treats me amazingly well. But at the same time, I really am not sure that I want to date him, or that he is my type, or whatever. Quite frankly, I'm just plain confused. Everyone else thinks he's gorgeous and that I'd be silly to walk away from it. Maybe they are right? I know I told myself coming into this weekend that we were going to spend a lot of time together, and that I would be able to figure out my thoughts during that time. Well, halfway through the weekend I am even more confused. Perhaps it's the huge crush I have on the new Sales Manager at the Hyatt that I can't seem to put out of my mind?
Stay tuned....
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, May 20th, 2004
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9:12 pm - Catch-Up Update #3
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So at this point, we should be caught up.
Since my last update, and returning to Ohio, life has returned to normal. Minus a couple of things, that is....
1) I shaved my head!!
2) I joined a bowling league
3) I've started listening to alternative rock again
4) I've been content being alone
5) I've been content being single
Regarding #1, don't ask me what happened. One night, I decided I was bored with my hair and that I was going to shave it, so I did! Everyone has been commenting on how they like it so much better than before. Honestly, I agree that it's okay, if only because I look much more butch and a little bit older. But I really did like it better before, so I'm growing it back out now.
The last 2 items on the list are what is really surprising. I had been consistently dating someone for a very long time, at least until Shawn and I broke up a couple months ago. And the surprising thing is that I've been strangely content with my singleness. It's not like I've been whoring around or anything either. I can honestly say I haven't touched a guy in a month. It's not that I don't want to, but I am perfectly happy not to at the same time.
I have, for the first time in my life, been at peace while spending time alone. For those of you who know me, you realize that I go insane after spending 5 minutes alone, so this is a major breakthrough. Lately, I have been spending entire days by myself, and am completely enjoying it. And the surprising thing is that despite this, I have started to make some of the first true, strong friendships since I've been in Arizona. This makes me very happy.
The only real negative that has happened in the past month is that I really don't have a roommate anymore, though even this has been not all bad. Shawn started dating a guy a couple weeks after we broke up, and since then he's only spent a night or two at the apartment, and I only see him once or twice a week in passing. Lots of people are telling me this is a good thing, since I essentially have my own apartment now, but also have someone to pay half of the bills. It makes sense, I suppose! :)
Alright, I'm going to bed now. And did I mention that I've been going to bed at like 9pm every night? What's up with this?!
current mood: mellow
current music: "So Far Away" by Staind
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(30 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, May 2nd, 2004
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9:57 pm - Catch-Up Update #2 (Visit to Ohio)
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This one will be much shorter than the last, since I'm late to get to bed and sick.
This past weekend, I visited back home in Ohio for the first time since I moved to Arizona a year ago. I cannot even begin to express how excited I was to see everyone. I've done a relatively poor job of staying in touch with everyone (but then again, it does go both ways), but one thing I always promise is that I will never completely lose touch. Regardless, it was great seeing everyone for the first time in a long while.
My flight landed Thursday afternoon, and my family met me in Columbus with a car to drive for the weekend. We had dinner, and then I drove straight down to Oxford. I met Michael, who was getting dressed to perform in Cincinnati that night, and we went to the Spectrum meeting, where I met Barrett, Katie, and some other people I knew from school. We left and went to Pipeline in downtown Cincy from there, where we had a great time. Amazingly, I bought a round for everyone and several other drinks for myself (probably 12 in all), and yet my tab only came to $25. Explain that. So we stayed until the bar closed at 2:30, then decided we were hungry. We went into a restaurant that claimed they only sat tables of 4 or less people (there were a lot more of us that that!), so we decided to ditch that place and randomly ended up in northern Kentucky eating at the "Anchor Grill Good Food Restaurant". And let me tell you, it was a treat! (not really) I had pancakes, bacon, orange juice, part of a burger, and fries.....and maybe something else, but I forget. :) Needless to say, this place wasn't a palace, and the bunch of us completely took it over. I think they were slightly overwhelmed.
So Friday, I never left Oxford. I spent a few hours meeting old co-workers in the athletic department, took a nap to recover from Thursday, and then went to a gay house party. It was kind of lame at first, and only had a keg that cost $5 per cup if you wanted to drink. So I ran to Kroger and bought a whole bunch of vodka and various Pucker varieties. I spent the next hour or so bartending, and got some better music playing. By the end, I think everyone was having a lot of fun. Yay!
Saturday was the day of many lunches. First, I had lunch with my new friend Tim, then with Matt, Ryan, Laurie, Nicklaus (sp?), and their friend whose name I forget. Thankfully, my third lunch with Steve from the AD was canceled. My fourth lunch (by then it was basically dinner) was with my old friend John Perge and his buddies. From there, I drove myself to Pipeline in Cincy, where Michael was performing again, then left to go to my old friend Chase's party, and then to the Dock for some dancing. Whew! We finally made it back to Chase's to pass out by about 5am, and then I got up at 7am to drive across the state to see my family in Cambridge.
It was nice seeing my family and their new house and all, but I was soooooo tired that all I wanted to do was sleep the first day. Didn't really do much in the day and a half I was there. We talked a lot and went out to eat a couple times. Not much else.
Alright, I'm tired and my throat really hurts. Off to bed....this was a really boring post. Sorry.
My Friend Perge
This is what I got when I asked for bread at the restaurant....
Chase & I
My Grandma & Little Brother
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(15 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, April 29th, 2004
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8:53 pm - Catch-up Update #1 (The White Party)
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This will probably be a series of 3 catch-up updates. I've been so busy lately (albeit with travel and vacation) that I haven't even had a chance to consider posting. This particular post is about my weekend in Palm Springs for the White Party 3 weeks ago. The White party is arguably the biggest gay circuit party around.
I've never considered myself a "circuit boy" or anything even remotely close to it. In fact, I had never been to one prior to the White Party. Based on what everyone told me, I was expecting a ton of drugs and sex to be just thrown in my face all weekend. I expected to be completely overwhelmed by it all. But amazingly, I wasn't. And in fact, I had an absolutely amazing time.
I went with my friend Andrew, arrived in Palm Springs at about 1am on Friday night, and checked into the Hyatt (I love my free rooms!). I kind of expected the entire city to be overrun by partying gay men, so I was surprised to find the Hyatt so quiet when we got there. Granted, there were gay men everywhere, but not climbing the walls and fucking around every corner as I was told. So we met Gary from Phoenix and went to the Friday night After Hours Party at "Heaven", which was DJed by Roland Belmares (who coincidentally plays at Rise Phoenix this Saturday). We danced until 8:30am. It was okay....definitely the low point of the weekend though.
After leaving Heaven (that sounds really strange somehow), we went to Starbucks and Einstein's for a quick breakfast (yes we actually ate at the White Party), then went to the pool party at the Wyndham. This is where it hit me that we were actually at the White Party. Hot men (and some ugly ones too) everywhere, and I was definitely the most overdressed person there, with my dorky red swim trunks. =) Had a lot of fun there, then we went back to the Hyatt with my new friend ucpsychguy (Seth) to take a short nap before the actual "White Party" Saturday night. So upon waking, we squeezed into our hot new white outfits and headed to the big event. It was an amazing time, especially since Seth and I had VIP passes that allowed us to go above the party and get free food and watch men who were paid to have sex. LOL. I swear, it really wasn't that raunchy. Tony Moran was spinning all night, and was really awesome, with the exception of the last hour or so that we were there, which was just so-so. Anyway, we partied and danced from 11pm until 5am, when we left and headed to the After Hours Party, spun by Abel. Abel spins some pretty intense shit. I don't really remember much of the After Party, despite the fact that I was completely sober. It's all kind of a blur. I know I had a lot of fun though! We danced there until about 8:30am, at which point I was physically unable to walk any longer. My legs hurt so bad after 30 hours of almost non-stop dancing that I couldn't stand it.
I remember being half passed out on the floor of the VIP room Sunday morning, in a pile of other men. That's all I really remember about that. Eventually, we did make it out though, and went to Einstein's again for breakfast. Took another catnap before heading to yet another pool party. Andrew and I passed on the T Dance and Closing party Sunday night, because we had to leave at 6am on Monday. Plus, I really couldn't walk, so dancing was out of the question.
All-in-all, it was an amazing weekend. Coming in, I figured this would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but I honestly think I'll go back next year. I had an incredible time and met some great new friends, yet was not high or drunk the entire weekend. Who woulda thunk it?
View from the VIP Area
The Fab Five (minus me)
The Fab Five at the Saturday Night White Party
Boys Having Sex on a Pedestal in the VIP Area
During the "Annie Lennox" Show
Hanging out at the Saturday Night After Party
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| Saturday, March 27th, 2004
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4:21 pm - New Travel Plans and Old Relationships
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My travelogue for April is now complete. It looks like this:
April 2-4 - Phoenix Pride (okay, not really travel, but plans nonetheless)
April 9-12 - The White Party in Palm Springs, CA
April 22-24 - Miami University in Oxford, OH to visit my old school and friends
April 25-26 - Cambridge, OH to visit family
Yikes, that's a lot packed into one month! If anyone is going to the White Party, let me know, because as of now I'm going alone. I don't intend to end up going alone, obviously. :) I have a free hotel room, and would like to share it with SOMEONE. To my Oxford friends, I'll be getting in Thursday evening, the 22nd, so be ready to party! ;)
Regarding travel for the rest of the summer, I will probably be taking May off since I'll be broke from April. I plan to take a trip somewhere with someone in June or July, but it's completely up in the air. I'd love if some of my old college friends would be able to meet to take a trip somewhere, but my guess is that isn't realistic, even with a free hotel room. I also plan on taking a vacation with my family in August, but the location is still TBD.
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So last night was both a great night and a horrible night. It started off great, with 3 different parties to celebrate a co-worker's promotion to San Diego. It was a freaking blast. Then I was stupid, and thought I wanted to go out to the bar, which turned out to be a huge letdown. I had no fun at all, and ended up leaving after no more than 20 minutes there. Shawn was there, and when I left I assumed he'd be coming home after the bar like he usually does. I stayed up because it was only another 30 minutes until he'd be home anyway. But then after like an hour and a half, he wasn't home yet. I called, only to find his cell phone turned off, which immediately enraged me because I thought he was trying to avoid me for some reason. So I was silly and got worried, and went to an after-hours bar that was the only place I could imagine him going, and didn't find him there, nor did I find him at the "gay Denny's", which he likes to go to late at night after the bars close. So I gave up and went home. Eventually he called when he was on his way home at 3:30, and we fought a little bit, and eventually the discussion led to the fact that neither of us can be happy with the other, despite the fact that we love each other, so we decided to break up. Honestly, it's probably for the best, but admittedly, it feels very weird right now. I haven't been genuinely single in well over a year now, and I'm not quite sure what to do with that. I honestly feel like if we were both 10 years older, once I am over my need of being with someone all the time and once he's over the need to go out drinking so much, we'd be a much better match. But will we be in each other's lives when that time comes? I am positive we will not be.
I normally don't ask for responses, but on this post I will do just that. I would love to know what each of you thinks about all of this. How should I be feeling right now? I would love to take this opportunity to get to know you folks better as well. ::hugs::
current mood: disappointed
current music: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
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| Tuesday, March 23rd, 2004
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6:30 am - Well what good will this do if he's not Prez anymore??? :)
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| Sunday, March 21st, 2004
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4:28 pm - What a crazy week!!
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I didn't go out last night for the first Saturday in ages. I had a 70s party I was supposed to attend, but I'm glad I passed on it. It was nice relaxing and being in bed by midnight for once. And as a result, the perpetual cold, stomachache, and hangover state I was in for the past week has finally subsided, and I feel good again.
What a week it was, though. My friend Matt was in town for the week, and for a few days at least, I felt like I was back in college. It started on Monday, when we met up and pre-partied here at the apartment, then hit up Amsterdam for what I would call my best night out in months. Had an AMAZING time, as nearly everyone was there, and I met a few new people as well.
Tuesday, I was so sick and felt like death warmed over, but Matt and I still met for dinner. Then, it was time for my friend Joe's birthday party at George & Dragon (I'd never heard of it either). I needed sleep badly, and planned to just stay for 10 minutes to be nice, but ended up there for 2.5 hours, with shots being thrown down my throat, as well as my first car bomb. Reminder to myself: I will never again have a car bomb. Disgusting!!
Wednesday night I got off work early and met Matt and the Ohio crew to go to the big block party/concert in Tempe. The concert was headlined by Barenaked Ladies. It was a lot of fun--for a couple of hours--but I ended up feeling really sick and left at like 10pm after 5 hours of drinking in the hot sun. (I think I would've been over my sickness by Tuesday if I hadn't kept drinking every night!)
Thursday night I had planned on going out, but my sickness caught up to me and I ended up passing out and sleeping 15 hours that night. Boy, I'm getting old.
Friday night was the night I'd been waiting for all week. I love going to AZ88, and was looking forward to showing it off to Matt et al. In the end, just Matt came along, but it was for the better. We drank a few cocktails at the Hyatt Scottsdale before heading to AZ88, where I had a few martinis. I don't remember what Matt had. :) We met a few people there, including some hot guys at the table behind us. It just so happened that one of them knew my HR Director Rafael from LA and was going to the 70s party that I ended up skipping last night. So we hung out with them, and actually ended up losing our table because our waitress thought we had left! So from there, we went to Amsterdam, which was a lot of fun, but not as much fun as Monday night.
It was at Amsterdam that I found out I have a free hotel room in Palm Springs in 3 weeks for the White Party. I'm not sure who to take, or what to do with it. I've never been to, obviously, and have heard a lot of stuff about how it's nothing but a big drug-fest/orgy. I'm not so much into that scene, but I have to say it would be interesting to at least be a spectator one time.
Then Saturday, I ended up hanging out with my friend Shawn and watching Requiem for a Dream and Finding Nemo. It was fun, and nice to just lay around the house for an afternoon. I ended up deciding not to go out at all, and retired early. I spent much of today lounging around the swimming pool and catching up on my reading. I think maybe the return of 90+ degree days has revuvenated me to a point. I wonder if it'll carry into the coming week.....
current mood: relaxed
current music: "Someone" by Ascension
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