As you might have guessed, it's been a busy couple weeks.
I have had some free time during the week, but not during the weekend when I usually tackle a journal entry. If my Sunday is booked, there just isn't time to get one out the door.
I have had company the last couple weekends, so there hasn't been a lot of free time to excuse myself for 3-4 hours.
I guess the biggest event was my parents came for a short visit.
They flew in on a Thursday and left the following Monday.
This time my dad came out, and as always, we tried to find something that will keep him interested. He's an early riser and when he doesn't have work to do he is kind of lost, mentally tapping his foot, just waiting for something to happen and GO somewhere! (Sound like someone else you might know?)
He did great though, and the the casinos near my house kept himbusy. He went over there on two occasions, coming back with piles of money. He sure knows how to play blackjack!
My mom, as usual, just glides through a day. She's always got Something to do. Laundry, tidying, cleaning the sink, stopping for a snack, reading a book, sunning herself..she just seems to always have things to do. Thank goodness my dad and I are so messy! She'd be so bored! We're Givers that way!
I took them out several times to give them a tour of San Diego. They are thinking SD might be a place they could come live in a couple years.
The day before they left, their house sold, and the buyers wanted to be in the first of September…giving them a little over a week to pack and find a new place. You can tell your parents move a lot when they take such alarming news so serenely. Despite having to find a new place to live and to pack-up an over 5000 sq ft. house, they came on out and seemed really relaxed.
The biggest event was our trip over to Coronado Island. The Hotel Del has an awesome Sunday morning breakfast out on their back patio with a view of the beach.
We had a little communication problems as I dropped my parents at the door and told them to go to the restaurant, that we had reservations to sit by the beach. Little did I know, there are several restaurants in the hotel.
They went to the first restaurant they found, which is RIGHT inside the door. My parent's told them they had reservations, but they said they didn't have one, but that they had lots of room. My parents were a little surprised at the $55 a meal ticket, and got themselves seated.
When I arrived at the outdoor restaurant, I couldn't find them. My cell was losing signal, but I finally got through to them. Where the heck did they go!?
I found them in the upscale stuffy restaurant with a view of…. the valet parking lot!
I was pretty irked at the staff. When they couldn't find the reservation, they should have said “You might have a reservation for the brunch by the beach.” But no, they shuffled them in to the practically empty dining room where the price was outrageous.
Anyway, I went and got them, and despite being 20 minutes late, they still had a table for us. Once we sat down, it was time to chill and go tackle the breakfast buffet! PHEW!
The Hotel Del is a super nice place! Would love to stay there sometime. And the beach is fantastic as well. Lots of Navy/Marine types run up and down the beach in hundred man groups. And the dog beach is fun too, as Kitty! well knows.
After breakfast we drove over to Pacific Beach and walked along the boardwalk and even got our feet in the ocean.
I think over all my parents really liked San Diego. I took them to some of the cities on the outskirts, and I think they found some areas that they might want to live in. Be SO cool to have them here!
TILE STYLE
Before my parents arrived, I was trying to make the house look as nice as possible.
I think I mentioned in a previous entry that I got a hold of about 350 square feet of free ceramic tile for my back patio. Well, I finally got the money to have it installed, and Mark had one of his installers out the week before my parents arrived.
The tiles are a little uneven in places, but the patio was not exactly level. Mark seemed a little disappointed with his employee's work, and vowed to come out and fix it someday soon. I think it looks fine for a patio, and I have a giant tree root that is lifting half of the patio up anyway. The tiles are gonna shift and crack if I don't get this gorgeous tree cut down. The patio may not be the only casualty, as the tree roots are likely lifting my foundation as well.
~sigh~ it's such a beautiful tree. I wonder if I can find an arborist who can slice the roots on one side and not destroy it or ~yeeks~ have it tip over on to the neighbors!
Anyway, the patio is almost done. I spend a lot of time back here writing journal entries. I would love to have a mini kitchen - sink, bar, minifridge, grill..the works…in one corner. So many people enjoy the outdoors here and entertain and dine on their patios, that I bet it might be a nice selling point. I just hate investing in something that…hehe..I might never use.
Joel Visits
Not only were my parents visiting, but Joel was in for an extended weekend of rest, relaxation, and nightlife.
I wish I had got to spend more time with him, but with my parents here, and me sneaking in some work, we only had time to go and have coffee.
My recruiter Ben, joined me, since we were going to go meet at the Urban Grind- home of our favorite naughty dessert - Carmel Apple Pie.
We arrived a little ahead of Joel, and we were goofing around with our cameras and camera phones.
After looking at my last journal entry, we decided photos are more fun if you act like a dork in them. So we sat and practiced our nuttiest expressions. When in doubt, stick something in your ear.
We even shot a little video.
Can you tell we were bored?
Joel arrived and it was so awesome to get caught up on everything he has been doing. He sounds, as always, like he has a master game plan. He's very patient, sets his sites, then makes it happen.
Sounds like he is planning on moving to downtown Austin in the coming year, and there is no doubt he will enjoy living closer to the hub of activity.
My new camera has pretty good video on it, though when you hand it over to people you gotta make sure it is in photo mode instead of video mode. Note: Don't sit too close to Joel, he will tickle you the entire time you are posing for the photo-op!
Cityfest
Cityfest is kind of “Pride, the Sequel”. It takes place on 5th street in Hillcrest. It's not necessarily gay-oriented, but it IS in Hillcrest, and that alone sends the Dorothy meter needle off the scale.
I enjoyed this event more than I did Pride. Better mix of people (“Loook..are those straight people over there? Quick! Take a picture of them!). Not so many rainbow flags, and a greater variety of small business booths, though I think there must have been a dozen booths selling cheap sunglasses.
I also got to meet and hang with one of Ben's best friends, Melissa. She was a blast to hang with.
The smells of Kettle Corn were too much for Ben and Melissa and they just had to have some. We snacked on it as we wandered around the event, Ben, ever-watchful for hot guys that I could photograph.
After walking around for an hour or so, we went back to Ben's where I promptly fell asleep, to the apparent delight of Melissa.
They were so noisy, I'm not sure why they though I was actually asleep. Here I am sticking my tongue at the appropriate moment.
Party at the W
Ben and I also got an invitation to an exclusive “Jet Set” party at The W Hotel.
The invitee list was really select, and in order to get in, you had to have a key and be on the list. Getting through security was a lot irritating, as a guy there was hired to check our ID's and gave EVERYONE the third degree.
The traveling bar idea is brilliant, and Griffin who organized much of it, told me that they already have a couple other cool bars wanting to do the event. It's a great way to fill a bar and get a buzz going.
The W's rooftop bar is gorgeous! Friendly staff wandered around and took drink orders, and my assistant Chris was there, saying the drinks were strong, which is always a crowd pleaser. It was a blast to sit and chat with people in a more relaxed setting, and hopefully there will be more of these events.
Sin City
Ben and his Italian friend came over one evening and I bought Sin City.
While watching it, I was not liking it at all. I liked the style and all cinematography, but the violence turned me off.
The next day, I was at home working on photos, and I put it on the TV in my office.
I don't know how it happened, but I LOVED it the second time. Maybe it was cuz I knew when I could close my eyes, or I knew to avoid some of the violence, but I did a 180 on my opinion on the movie.
I still think a lot of violence can be “implied” but I can see why fans have got to have the guts spilling out.
Anyway, if you like new different stuff, this is a great film. Just bring your blankie to hide your eyes at the gory moments.
Kitty! goes to the Vet
Kitty! went to the vet and got her annual check up and shots.
It was likely the most frustrating thing that has happened since I have been in San Diego.
I took Kitty! in for her rabies shots and expected them to give me her dog tags. Well, apparently, silly boy, one has to go and register their dog before they give you the dog tag.
So let me get this straight.
I brought my dog in, paid for an office visit, paid full price for a rabies vaccine, and now I owe the city money to "register" my dog, and in order to force me to register my dog, they are holding my rabies tags hostage?
Uh…Doesn't this kind of make the average or even below income dog owners less likely to come in and get their dogs a rabies shots? Hell, its hard enough to get people to be responsible to get the rabies shots in Texas. You can go to free or nearly free clinics all over the place to encourage people to get their dogs vaccinated.
But then to be hit with another $30-60 yearly license..and to withhold the rabies tag too? I dunno…like I said. Sure would make me not want to go in and get my dogs a rabies shots through proper channels.
During the exam, the vet couldn't find an ear piece to look in Kitty!'s ear. He looked around and found one just sitting out on a counter. I kind of cringed, but thought, she is a tough girl.
Well, 4-5 days later she had one hell of an ear infection.
So I make another appointment to have her ears fixed, and spent an additional $150 on that visit.
She seems better, but I took here hiking on Sunday, and she got tired really quickly, and I got a little nervous-she suddenly seemed old and tired, and ~sigh~ I guess she is an 'ole dog.
Model Hunt
Other then the occasional social event, I have been desperately looking for more nude models. I shot a half dozen or so guys in the last couple weeks, with about 5 more on the calendar. So it looks like I won't run out of guys, but I am spreading it a little thin.
So here is a run down of who I worked with..you're own little sneak preview for sticking with the journal all these years.
David is Brian's boyfriend. (Last entry..with headphones on) Talk about a power couple! Both of them are so gorgeous and nice. They are gonna come in and do some soft romantic type shots in a couple weeks, and I think my house may implode with so much beauty in one place.
Pepe was visiting Ben, my model recruiter. He is originally from Italy, and definitely has an Italian look. Pepe was visiting with his boyfriend, and ended up half naked wandering around Ben's house. Ben was like, “You need to go get photographed by Bryan! NOW!”
Gary answered my advert on Craig's List. He is an actor, who was looking for some portfolio shots and thankfully he was down with doing nude photos. I am so happy to have a guy with chest hair too! You guys may think I am obsessed with this, but I get tired of getting so many emails accusing me of asking the models to shave their chests and would I please stop. So fans of natural body hair will be happy to have this hot guy in the galleries.
He was great to work with, and I would love to get him back for Video. One of those straight guys that you would wish would play for our team so you could set up house with him.
Cedric is originally from Paris, and despite living here many years, has a thick French accent. Cedric is exploring all kinds of adult work, and you guys will surely be spotting him in more mainstream publications and video.
I was trying to create a new bedroom that had lots of cool colors and had white on white. Ben helped me put together furniture, I got a new bed frame, and I put a very light blue coat of paint on the walls. Cedric was first to be photographed in the room, and I really like the effect of the cool blues in the images.
Cedric is due to come back for video work in September.
Erik had seen my site from online and thought it might be fun to pose. You guys know how hard it is for me to find guys with a more international look, so I was pleased to have a hot Asian guy wanting to pose for us. He was nervous but eager to please, and I love the shots I got of him. Very sexy!
Travis was also a recruit via Ben. Travis was interested in doing some video work, but I wasn't sure about his “look” so we did some photos. He's a mechanic, so we went out and shot some images of him working on his truck.
Ryan is from Colorado. I met with him when I was last out in Castle Rock. We had planned on shooting there, but couldn't quite keep the communication flow going. So we decided to just meet and see if we wanted to work together.
He was a nice guy, so he came out this weekend and we did photos and video. Ryan is pretty thin and despite being 6' 5”, I guess he has that whole twink thing going. He was here most of the weekend, so I was busy doing hosting duties.
I am really wishing I could get enough money together to put these guys up in hotels, but the tourist season is in full effect, and it's expensive and even difficult to find good hotels.
I shot a video with Ryan in the new Blue Room, but I didn't like the effect on his pale skin. So I will use that room for photos, and re-think the room for video.
Well, that's it! See ya soon!
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