Germany moves on!!!!

Yes!!!! What a nail biting game up to the very end!!! Germany wins it but just barely! Great game!!!!

Whew penalty kicks...very stressful!!!!

Work work work!

The remodeling continued today. After work I got started peeling some loose paint in the bathroom. The same thing happened in there that happened in the kitchen, however this time I had the experience and know how to deal with it! Yay!

While I waited for the spackle to dry, I cleaned up the kitchen and put all of my appliances back...2.5 hours! Crikey!

I went back to the bathroom afterwards and sanded the spackle then retouched up. Did more prep work for tomorrow's primer.

Wow, what a boring blog entry huh. Sorry about that. :)

OH! My carpeting is coming next Saturday! Oh, it's gonna be so rad!

Time to hop in the shower! :)

Shoes and Primer...

I got my shoes today! Oh how fashionable! Oh how fantastic! Oh how very cool! They fit too!

I can't wait to take them out! :)

I also started on my kitchen. I pulled the fridge out and taped around the cabinets. I took off all the wall plates (throwing them away and replacing them with nice new bright white ones).

When I was taking my old blinds out of the window, some of the wall came off with them too... Boy I'll tell ya Mike and his "Mike Specials"...

I spackled the wall, waited for a bit and then went to town putting primer on the walls and ceiling. Poo-Stinky that shit smells.

But I am looking at my kitchen and it's so nice and bright white...and that's just the primer...it looks so clean and happy.

So, I just hopped out of the shower and it is time to max and relax (like Billy Dee Williams in the old Colt 45 commercials).

Tomorrow evening I will paint! Yay! How gloriously gorgeous! I hope the paint will go on ok with one coat. I'll have to do it right when I get home and then check it at 8 or 9 to see if it needs a second. It sure would be nice to finish painting the room tomorrow so I just have to install the switches etc. on Wednesday.

By the way, did I ever mention how I hate off white?? It just looks old and dirty.

All my trim and kitchen is a nice bright white...like my switches and outlets....happy sigh. Bright white just looks so clean...haha okay, I think I inhaled too much primer! :)

-E

Workin' away and beatin' the heat!

Welp, it has been a very productive weekend but I did manage to have some fun and relax a bit.

Friday night, I prepared the rest of my doors for painting and my friend Joel came over and picked up my dining table and chairs and then grabbed some Indian food. It is nice to have them gone but at the same time, a little sad.

Saturday, I put the primer on the doors and my sofas came! Boy are they nice! A little mishap though, the sofas I ordered were a slight olive color but the ones I got were a light tan. I like the tan onces better and they will go better with my carpeting, so I am happily keeping them.

Walter came over and we had dinner and watched some Sex in the City.

This morning (while watching the World Cup) I was vacuuming my old sofas to get off the cat hair when my phone rang. It was Out of the Closet. They were a few hours early. I told them my stuff wasn't ready and they said that maybe they could come back. I continued to clean, determined the old sofas and my dresser would leave my place today.

My friend Mike came over to pick up my old big sacreen TV in my bedroom and while he was here, he was kind enough to help me take the old sofas and dresser out by the curb. This way if Out of the Closet came back, it would be easier for them and if they didn't, well maybe someone would take them.

So everything is gone that needs to be. Another milestone reached, although I must say...saying goodbye to the dresser was a bit sad. I've had that thing since I was born. I think it was my oldest brother's in our room back in Southampton.

After all that, I painted the doors and then I fixed my wall! Well, almost. I cut away all the stuff that was hanging and then put one layer of spackle on and smoothed it with the scraper thingy then I took a quick break. I went in the pool for a bit as it was very hot today.

Now, I am going to tape up the kitchen, remove all the appliances and remove the wall switch plates. My plan is to have everything taped, then apply more spackle so everything is ready to primer tomorrow. Paint Tuesday, rewire the light switches and outlets Wednesday (if I don't go to Bingo!) then do my bathroom the following few days.

Welp, better get taping. I have a craving for Weinershitzel corn dogs and I can't eat until the taping is done!

It hasn't been the most exciting of weekends, but it is stuff I need to get done. :)

-E

Carpet selection has been made!

After looking at a lot of samples, I picked out my carpet. I am going with "Copper Penny" it's a darker brown that has whispers of copper in it. It looks very cool and goes great with the walls (both the light milk chocolate walls and the light olive green). I took a picture of it (click it to enlarge) but It loses something from "real life" to picture.

This is a mile stone but I still have a lot of work to do (especially in the next 2 weeks) before it gets installed. It's all coming together at a rapid pace!

The USA is out.

Sigh. Welp, Germany is still going strong.

Last night I got my kitchen table and chairs ready for my friend Joel to pick up. It's kind of sad seeing your furniture go away, but it is making room for new stuff and its a brand new chapter in my life.

Tonight, its prep work for more painting!

And tracking news on my shoe front, they just left Turin Italy this morning! hehe (Yes, I'm very excited!) :)

Today I will call Out of the Closet and have them pick up my sofas and dresser.

Shoes!!

Must...control...the...urge...to...buy...SHOES!

I am on the verge of buying new blinds, curtains, lCD TV and getting new furniture. Having said that, I saw these shoes online that I want. They are on sale for 370 bucks. Can i resist temptation to buy them and be responsible? Or will I give in and just buy them and hold off the purchase of something until next week. After all, it's only next week...

Okay, Here is a pic of them...

Wire mesh in a wall?! What the fuck?

Okay, so I have the carpet people coming to measure tomorrow and bring me samples. Yay, very good.

But, I wanted to paint my kitchen before the new carpet gets laid down.

I noticed that the paint was cracked so I started to peel it off. It lifted very easily but was very thick. I thought "Hmm, must be because it is oil based".

Well, there is a big gap between the paint and the wall so I figured, I better scrape it all off because it's loose. Makes sense, yes?

So I got my scraper and stuck it in between and what happens? The fucking wall comes off! Big chunks fall to the floor and this big wire mesh thing is sticking out!

What the fuck? haha Sigh. I have no idea what to do now. Should I hire an illegal alien at Home Depot to fix it? Who puts wire in a wall? Why is it there? I suppose I could cover it up, but the paint is all loose...wouldn't that pose a problem? I need help people!

According to my stats, this blog gets 30-40 hits a day and no one posts...For the love of the Baby Jesus, post now and help me!

Just when I was starting to feel good about my home fix-it skills improving, bam, the universe hits me with wired mesh sticking out of my wall.

I swear, all I wanted to do was paint. If there is something fucked up and silly that could happen, it would happen to me.

I need a Redbull and Vodka...

Oh, and here's a pic (click to enlarge)

Friday Friday

What a wacky week in the World Cup! Seems like everyone was waiting to the last second to score a point...Even my beloved Deutschland. Except Argentina...boy did they kick ass this morning!

World Cup aside, I had a nice week. Just went to the gym most of the week, played Bingo on Wednesday. Hamburger Marys bought the restaurant next door and the finally knocked down the wall, so Bingo is now bigger and better than ever. The prizes were awesome too! But we didn't win. It was nice to see some old Bingo pals and I can't wait to go next week.
I think we are all going to El Presidente at lunch today to watch the Mexico game.

This weekend will consist of buying paint for the kitchen and bathroom, watching some matches and of course having some fun. :)

Welp, back to work! :)

Peace and Love,
Eric

Pride!

What a fantastic Pride it was this year! We got there around 2pm or so and immediately went to the Abbey to pound down some Chocolate Martinies and Red Bull and Vodkas!

We were at the Abbey for almost 3 hours having the best time! Shel got lots of good pics which I will upload (once I get them). We did some flirting and Shel got some good lesbo pics...leave it to the straight man at gay pride to fill a memory stick full of tit shots...

The festival was cool! I paid a dollar and won another cum towel. (Well, I actually didn't win one but the towel I won last year shrank in the dryer). But after I told my heart felt story, the guy at the booth gave me a new towel. :)

We hung out for a few hours then went to the Voo-Doo Room for dinner. What a great place! We saw Maria there (R-r-r-r-roses!) A true WeHo staple. You don't know WeHo until you know the Roses Lady!

After dinner, it was back in the festival for more fun and the bands! We joined the live band area just as Animotion was finishing up. Remember them from their hit 80s song "Obession?" They were cool! But after that was The Bangles! I must say these girls kicked ass! Man, can they rock! Yes they of course performed "Manic Monday" and "Walk Like An Egyptian". They really had the crowd going!

Of course there was flirting! I gave this cute guy at the Trevor booth my card. Hopefully he will e-mail. :)

Below are some Bandgles pics that Shel took. He was sobering up by then so they are pretty good haha As always click the pic for a larger version!

The World Cup Begins!

What a great beginning it is! Deutschland winning over Costa Rica 4-2!!!!

YES!

I am a happy man!! :)

What a great game. Terrific goals were scored by both teams...but in the end, it's Germany winning the 3 points :) Here's to moving on! :)

Also, Dr. Who... Sigh I knew he was going to regenerate, but wow what a great episode...I'll miss him, he was a great Doctor. *sniff*

That's all for now, just a quick post. More on the weekend. It's gay pride in L.A. this weekend so I'll be posting some pics of my friends and I havin' ...well, a gay 'ol time. haha :)

Peace and Love,
Eric

P.S. Sorry for typos if any, I'm a bit drunk :)

It's a Wonderful Life

What a great life it is! I've come to a point in my life where everything just seems to be perfect. No drama whatsoever. Ahhhh. Life is nice.

I've spent the past week taking it kind of easy, getting back to L.A. time. I didn't go to bingo but I have been goign to the gym for 1.5-2 hours a night. It feels good to get in a lot of cardio since I was walking about 10 hours a day on my vacation.

I saw X-Men III on Thursday with my friend Douglas. It was so awesome! But if you see it, stay until after the credits are done rolling. You HAVE too!

Friday, after my workout, I had a drink with Sheldon. It was so hot here, I HAD to have a Strawberry frozen margarita!

After that, I had dinner with my friend Guy and hung out at the Galleria to watch a free concert they were having (Every Friday and Saturday all summer long). I saw this woman sitting alone so I joined her. We had a cool chat and the band was really good. What a great night it was!

Saturday, I had breakfast at The Abbey with Walter, or I guess I should say brunch since I finished it off with a creamcicle martini! :)

We then went down near the OC to a furniture store so he could pick out a new bedroom set. Very nice stuff they have there!

We met up with Morty and had dinner at Zach's. We saw our friend Mike there. It was a fun dinner as always. We came back to my place and watched Transamerica. What a great movie!

Sunday was a relaxing day. All I did was see The Davinci Code with Morty. I even went to bed somewhat early to get ready for a busy work week!

Europe, In Reflection

I've been home for a week now, sorry for not posting, I've been real busy getting back into the swing of things but before I go out for the day I just wanted to make a quick post about my social independent study I've been doing!

In all my tavels from the UK and Australia and now some of Europe, I can't help but feel that we, as Americans, certainly need a lot of help when it comes to social living.

It was so nice in Germany. Like in Munchen for example...in the square where the market is, they have these long benches sitting there. You get your beer (Mmmm German beer!) and sit down at a bench right next to strangers on either side of you and just start gabbing away.

What do we do here? The complete opposite. We have our little invisible space around us and do our best not to let people in. When we go to the movies we make sure we leave atleast one seat open between us and the person next to you. We are constantly on our cell phones so we don't have to talk or interact with strangers. Hell, I remember one of the first things we are taught when we are young is "Don't talk to strangers." Why the hell not? My life has been so much more interesting since I've started talking with strangers!!!

And the old people....They live! Old people in their seventies are riding bikes at night time. Those that have canes are walking too. Some even had two canes. Double barrel cane-age and they are still out walking. And smoking. Smoking and walking with 2 canes!!! They manage just fine!

Old people in America? What do they do? Get a handicap card for their car just because they are old. They drive to their pharmacy to get their pills (because we all need pills...every television commercial tells us so. Feeling depressed? Take a pill. Can't get it up? Take a pill. Feeling depressed because you can't get it up? Take another pill!) and then go home and wait to die.

We are raised to believe that we are such a free country and that we are ahead of the times. (Laughable since our dck of a president wants to add bigotry into the constitution to ban same sex marriage).

I remember this one resturant in Prague, where they had something in Czech written on the wall. The words were written around a drawing of a naked woman with the "O" being her vagina. Such a silly sign but I thought "Wow, that could never happen back home". Some American idiot would sue the restaurant and shut them down claiming it tramatized their kid.

Yet its perfectly okay to sit down and they watch all this violent programming on tv with their children. So fucked up. If I had a kid, I'd much rather have him/her see a naked body on television that someone getting their head blown up and murder after murder.

So they are my two cents on how our society basically sucks. :) Please comment and lets all start a conversation on it.

An the trip note, it was fabulous. You all read the posts I made when I was there. Great time but ya know, I came back realizing that I love L.A. Yeah, it's a good life...