leftovers

Rain, rain and more rain! The torrential rains we're having in LA at least make it seem like the holiday season - it might not be snow, but it's something different and to be honest, it's so much easier to get in the holiday spirit when the weather is just dreadful (not that I think the rain is dreadful personally). Dylan and I went to brunch at Fabiolus Cafe over in Hollywood which was all-you-can-eat for $9.99, a great deal. Fabio, the owner, had invited us but he wasn't there unfortunately. It was nice to have brunch somewhere outside of West Hollywood for a change. The Boofont Sister's annual holiday show was taking place all weekend, this year titled "Jesus Christ! It's Christmas!" and Dylan and I had gotten our tickets for tonight and met Marc, James and Robert there. The show was so much fun - it was definitely their best one yet. In addition to Vicky (Joe) and Ruby (Cindy), the guest stars were Kelly Mantle, Barbie Q, Tammy Brown, and Wee ...

Halloween weekend has officially begun! I didn't wear a costume to work since Halloween isn't actually until Sunday and I knew no one else would wear one, although I did want to. Brandon and Angie came and picked us up after work and we went to the Hammer Museum over by Westwood for this event they were having called Tranimal Workshop. These local cutting-edge drag queens like Squeeky Blonde and Phaedra (sp?) were doing this thing where they would make people over in their style, which is really a freaky style of drag with like fishnets over the faces and lots of scary/weird accessories. Then, the amazing photographer Austin Young would take photos of those who got madeover. Dylan was really excited for that and he ended up being the only one of us who got a makeover because when he went to sign up, they told him he was the last one. Kristahn was there - she was actually the person who told us about the event. She was dressed up like Dolly Parton and she looked really good...

It was a Friday night so Dylan and I decided to go out in Hollywood. We really wanted to try having dinner at Kitchen 24, which is in my BID, so we went there but they charged to valet so we parked at the ArcLight and walked instead. Dinner was good, but we decided we really wanted to come back for happy hour sometime. After dinner, we went next door to Citizen Smith. They were supposed to be having this big fundraising event for the AIDS LifeCycle or something to benefit the gay and lesbian center, but it didn't seem like it was really that well organized. We did run into a friend (more of a friend-of-a-friend) there so we hung out and had a couple drinks. I also ran into quite a few people I know from work, including the owners of the building. We hung out back in the alley bar area for awhile and talked to the bartender who was really friendly. Ongina, from RuPaul's Drag Race, was supposed to be the host of the event but she wasn't there and we got tired of waiting...

Marc and I met out on Romaine St. so he could hand over Princessa, Viktor’s chihuahua, who I would be dog sitting the next few days while they are all up in San Francisco at Folsom Street Fair. It ended up being a really hot day in Los Angeles, so I decided not to do the steam cleaning today. I thought maybe I’d just do it tomorrow. I ended up working on my song, “Dancing on my Obsession,” which is the mash-up of “Dancing on my Own” by Robyn and “Obsession” by Animotion (commonly mistaken for a Human League song) which I had started to work up for Blender. I finished it and sent it to Cindy for tonight. I met Brad at Hamburger Mary’s around 9:30 so that we could get a good table and have dinner first. I hadn’t even told Brad I was performing, but Cindy got there later and came and told me what order we’d be performing in so that’s when Brad found out. Later, our friend Brent came and joined us. The show started shortly after 10pm and the Boofont Sisters did severa...

It's always so hard to go back to work after a great weekend. I had a lunch meeting with Sarah in my office, Jim who took my old job at the Media District, and Lydia, who is a community activist and formerly the Beautification chair of the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council. We met at Tender Greens and ate out on the back patio, which I was previously unaware of. The purpose of the get-together was just to discuss ideas of how the BIDs could collaborate with the Neighborhood Council on projects such as beautification and quality of life issue. We discussed the possibility of funding dog-waste stations throughout Hollywood. After work I got home and Kevin was there so we hung out. Later, we went out to Fubar; Dylan was too tired to go so it was just Kev and I. It was really dead - there were only like 2 other people in there when we first got there. The bartender really wanted us to stay as he must have realized the looks on our faces when we walked in and saw how empty it...

I woke up to the gentle Winnipeg morning light shining in through the front windows of Chad's house. Dylan and I had slept on a mattress in the living room that was SO comfortable I completely drifted away and forgot all about last night's troubles. Dorothy came to pick up AJ and Laura (Red had stayed at her place overnight) so they could go to Mother's Music to rent guitars, bass, and to buy drum sticks. She also had Canadian cash for us so we could exchange our money. I gave Laura some cash to get me a tambourine if they had one for rent. Dylan and I watched Canadian TV and were surprised to see their version of 'Cash Cab' which we often watch when we get home from work on the rare days we have nothing else to do. Soon, Dorothy and the girls came back and we decided to walk over to Perkins for brunch. Most everyone ordered breakfast stuff, but as usual I was feeling more like lunch so I got a french dip sandwich. After that, Dorothy drove Dylan, Red and I to ...

Today was a sad day. While watching TV this evening, my cell phone rang. We had just finished dinner earlier and I had left my phone on the dining table and I didn't feel like getting up to answer it. But then Dylan's phone rang and he saw it was Ben calling so he answered the phone. Ben said that our friend, Tristan, had just passed away; Tristan's aunt had called to let Ben know. I had known Tristan for a couple years or more, having met him through Ben. He was a fellow LA transplant from Kansas - he was from Wichita, and didn't seem to have many fond memories of or any desire to ever move back to our home state. He seemed perfectly happy in LA. He was quite a character, as he was always prone to break out in (very loud!) song, usually one of Tina Turner's, who he idolized. He was opinionated and outspoken, but never pushy or judgmental. My fondest memory of Tristan is from one night when we were hanging out at The Palms in West Hollywood, it was either hi...

I tried to do some work at home since my office is in disarray, but I had to go in to finish moving everything into a completely different room. Almost everything is carpeted now on my floor except for my office and the hallway around my office. So, I had a couple of my security guys come over to help me move the heavy stuff down the hall into one of the finished offices so that my office can get re-carpeted tomorrow. I had to rush to get ready when I got home because not only did we have a show later tonight, but we also were doing a radio interview for The Baub Show (www.thebaubshow.c0m). We've known Baub for a long time, because he is good friends with Eric who used to dance for us, and I think he was roommates with Denny at one point if I remember correctly. He had had an internet radio show for awhile now, which I've known about because he's interviewed Tiffany a couple times on there. I see him at almost every Tiffany show I go to. Anyway, Amy wanted to do the in...

Since I had went to the trouble of buying a jump rope last night, I was not about to miss boot camp, although I kind of wished I had once I got there. It was a really intense work out and I could not keep up with the other guys. Sometimes I can force myself to keep up with people, at least to a degree, but sometimes I just really don't know what's wrong with me. I suppose it's probably my diet and lifestyle. I think I know all about eating right and what foods to avoid but I just have a hard time implementing it into my actual routine. I guess you could say I am addicted to junk food when it comes down to it, which is just awful. I feel it when I am trying to work out and it makes it harder to eat right when I do try. At work, I found out today that I am probably going to have to move to a different office in the same building which means I really need to get my stuff organized. Thankfully I had already started it, but I've been alone in this office for over 5 ye...

I made myself get up at 6:30 and get ready for boot camp. While I was getting ready, I woke Carrie up accidentally but she didn't seem to mind. Robin worked us out hard; when he's sick and doesn't do the exercises himself, I get much more self conscious because he can see how badly I do. I have never been good at working out and I seem to get worn out before others do, but I am trying. At least I didn't throw up. When I got home, Carrie and Dylan were both up and around, and Carrie had done all the dishes! I laid down for a little bit and then got ready for work; Carrie and I left at the same time. She was taking the bus to the subway to the airport. Encouraged by the two recent reviews of "Open For Business" (one in Frontiers in LA and the other in Edge Boston, both of which I had contacted myself), I mailed out 5 CD's to various radio stations. I don't know if radio stations (even college stations) actually play random CD's they get in the...