Last Day of Vacation

Just got a haircut...went to the pool for a bit. Now about to clean the place up and prepare for the return to work. SIGH.

Below are a couple of random pics.

This is Me and Aja that Chris took while at waterfront.




This is Nemo from a few moments ago...he just woke up from a nap on my lap.

Atlanta

Some of my favorite buildings. Though I didn't get to see the King/Queen building.







Well after all my visitors...I decided to "visit" friends in Atlanta and get out of town for a bit.

My adventure started on Saturday when I had to go get inside of a hurricane simulator at an expo here in town. Was Crazy! I had to wear goggles and ear phones and just hold on tight to a rope that was attached to a hovercraft. Winds were clocked at near 120mph at me. I cannot begin to explain what that feels like. I can't imagine what those felt in Katrina's path after feeling what I felt.

I got a parking ticket for an expired meter and a headache from the dehydration of the high wind. Great day :)

I dropped off Nemo at my friend Emily's then headed back to pack really quick when I found the alligator out again. I tried to get closer but I couldn't get closer b/c the apt complex folks were keeping people away but he was about 6ft long from head to tail. He was laying in front of our gate when I came back in. I honked. He didn't seem to care.



So I packed up...and headed west to Hotlanta.
Took me about 4-4.5 hrs to get there. Not too bad.

Got to Marc/Jody/Alvins place near 10pm. Nice house :) Very cool decorating.

We headed out to Blakes, then to Oscars, then to Burkhardts (spelling?), and then to SWINGING RICHARDS :) Hee haw! My gawd. Now THAT is something everyone should experience at least once. :)

Below is Marc, Alvin and Jody.





Went to eat at an all night cafe then to bed I went.

Sunday we had brunch at Einsteins and found myself having a beer at 2pm in the afternoon.

Then came IKEA!! (insert God music here).
I can never get tired of that place. I love it I love it I love it (Molly Shannon voice).

We then went to Little 5...cool area.
Then met up with David at Blakes for a few drinks. Was good to see him, it had been awhile.

Then to bed I went.

Monday Marc at I ate at Bahama Breeze while Jody and Alvin had to return to work. I tell ya, then have the cutest dogs!! I should have took pics, but camera died.

I hit the road just as Katrina was moving in. Drove through 2 counties that had tornado warnings in effect. Ugh, was a rough hour or so trying to get east.



Finally got home near 9pm...picked up nemo. Put him in bed with me and we snoozed away. HE is still laying next to me now.

So I have 2 days to still chill and relax before work begins.

It has been a crazy week or so. But a well needed one.

Third Visitor: Christopher

Ahhh Chris...my best gay :)



It was soooo good to finally get to hang with him and party it up around town.

We went to California Dreaming Thursday night...then to Patricks. He was supposed to sing....yet he didn't. Whadda wuss. But we got to swim in the pool. Then the hot tub...then the pool...then the hot tub :)

Friday we went to downtown. His friend Aja joined us. Isn't she adorable?



Friday night we went out to dance...
Sigh yes... Don't cha....Only the Lonely were out, and only they know How Many Licks It Takes To Get To The Middle of It. Below is Whitt and Chris.



Not sure what he is doing here. Just use your imagination.


Zack came by after the club and passed out in my bed. He will kill me later for this pic.


Chris come back soon!!!! You're a good friend and glad I met ya!

Second Visitor (s): Dale and Courtney

Well, I just dropped the kids at the airport. Of course, Dale left his cell here so I have to overnight it back to him now :)

Their adventure however started off just as rough. They missed their Monday night flight out of Nashville, so they had to catch the early AM flight on Tuesday and arrived here just before noon.

Once they did, Court had to hurry and get ready to she could meet my boss at the station. That went pretty well I guess, but we decided we wanted to head downtown to do some shopping and eat lunch. However, Court needed a place to change. What was close? Well...Harris Teeter grocery of course :) So Court walks in with her luggage and all going down the frozen food aisle :)



We then went to eat a La Hacienda. Dale and I ate there when he helped me move here, so was fitting for us to go back again. Mmmmmm margaritas.




Next was shopping on King Street. Man I love that place. It started to rain big time, so we went inside Sharper Image to play around. Court and I found the massage chairs. In this pic, you can't tell, but her boobies are shaking like crazy on the vibration mode :)




We came back to nap for a bit. Ended up showing them the first two episodes of Queer as Folk. Man, if any of you could have been a fly on the wall...lemme tell ya.

We did go out to Wild Wings that night, again...more heavy rain. After the soggy day/night, we decided to just go home. So we did, and passed out.

Court got a nice wake up call from me the next morning :)




We decided to hit up the beach.
Saw dolphins as soon as we got there, I just had a hard time catching them on my camera as they came out of the water.



Dale helped me look...



And Court wanted too, but would rather bake...



Court then had an appointment at *another place* and then we headed off to Town Centre to do more shopping. And what happened? Yup, more heavy rain. Geez.

We shopped for a lil bit then came back to get ready to go to California Dreaming. Had a great meal, and all 3 of us got buzzed and could not stop laughing.

We then headed to Music Farm, a place the plays live bands. Mostly metal. I thought Dale would like that, but he said they sucked. lol.

So, I decided to just take them to the homo bar at Dudleys :)
Dale had his first beer!!

He hated it...and threw it out.

Court made friends REALLY quick. She clicked with my bud Matt there at the bar.




Oh ya Court, don't forget "Buckjuice" :)

At anyrate, the night ended well with all 3 of us tired. I don't even remember getting into bed.

But I am in it now, so I am going back to sleep. My next visitor arrives here in just a few hours. Sigh...craziness.

First Visitor: Heath

Ahhh yes Heath. He and I have been best friends for almost 10 years now. We first met in the fall of 96 when he came down into Studio 2 inquire about our student newscast. Our gf's knew of each other....which is funny now. But we have been THROUGH IT over the years. Lots of fun, saddness, and seriousness. But through it all, we have been nothing but the greatest of friends. Which I am lucky to have that.

(Heath at Dudleys after the "call")

Heath arrived Saturday night. We sat at the apt for while, then he went with me to work for my last show until sept (quiet whoo hoo, inserted here). Then we hit up Pantheon. Good times. Danced alot, drank alot. Heath was so cute, had this cowboy hat on. I WISH I took a pic, but forgot.

Saturday night late, Heath and I went "shopping". Good times :) "What are we gonna do?" HAHA CRAZY I tell ya, just CRAZY!

Sunday we got up...talked alot (which we do well), then headed to the beach. Damn, I dunno why when I have friends in town we see the hottest guys, but damn. Water was VERY warm...felt almost hot actually. Insane.

We went to downtown..showed him around a bit, then ate at California Dreaming. GREAT FOOD!

And finally met up with the kids at Dudleys for a few drinks.

(Still at Dudleys...)


(Corn? Peas? )

But it was the final moments of his visit that I realized is why were are such close friends. Whenever one, or both, of us is going through a rough time, usually the other doesn't even have to say a word. Just hold each other.

Heath, thank you so much for showing me that taping. You are an amazing guy with an amazing heart. You deserve the same...anything less ...you will be cheating yourself. I love ya!

He is on the road now as I type back to Pittsburgh.

So Heath's visit has drawn to a close, but the next one is about to begin with Dale and Courtney arrives in a few hours or so.

Til then.

Crazy Times Ahead

No recent posts as I am sure I will have PLENTY to write about over the next 10 days.

My vacation time starts tomorrow and I won't return to work until early September. THANK GOD! And I have several friends coming into town on various days.

I am going to try and buy me a digital cam today so you guys can see better quality than my camera phone :)

I will send updates along the way.

ta ta

Finally...some Goode news

All clear.
No worries.

Speeding?? DAMMIT

Yes yes, it finally happened. I got pulled over last night for speeding.

Where? ON THE NEW DAMN BRIDGE out of all places.

PJ and I were heading to REDS and we were coming down the off ramp. Speed limit on the bridge is 55...ramp 40. You know how you see those signs that say "RAMP 40mph" or something. But no one really pays attn.

Anyhoo, I saw the blue lights. Pulled over.
And of course, the cop was CUTE! That made me nervous. So I am sure I acted drunk even though all I had in my body was a diet coke from Arbys. :)

So he said he clocked me at 60 on the ramp. Took my info.
Came back, said that he was going to do me a favor and knock it down to 50 in a 40. Which is about 80 bucks. I don't have to go to court or anything, but I have that option if I want to fight it. So I dunno.

I went and got a beer after that. Needed one.

Crazy 3 Days

Let's see...where to start.

Well, I had talked to this guy online...Lamont. He is orinally from Brazil and now lives in Atlanta. He was coming to Charleston to stay a few days for work. I offered to take him around town his first night to show him Dudleys. I could tell he seemed nervous about that, but I remembered what it was like to not know where to go in this town. And NO I wasn't trying to "pick him up" you pervs!

Anyhoo...
So I took him out Wednesday night. OMG his accent is so funny. "Oh my goodness" :)

We had fun...drank ..watched homos sing.

Then I saw anotehr friend of mine..Todd from NYC that as coming into town too. So we all 3 just stood around and talked. Ended up meeting Ronnie, a boy that makes me laugh so hard I think I pee'd in other peoples pants.

Thursday...we went out again. This time to Patricks. Zack was out too. Todd got up on stage and sang "I'll Be". GREAT VOICE...no wonder he is an actor. I got Todd a beer though he didnt want to drink. I took this pic shorter after of Lamont and Todd.



Then Friday...ugh.
I ended up working 2nd shift...had dinner with Emily/Zack and his niece that lasted like 3hrs. Picked up Lamont...took him to work with me so I could do the 11pm news and we could hit the club by 12 b/c Ronnie was doing drag.

So we got there..ran into everyone. Lamont really liked the strippers on the bar. LOL.

Saw Todd again...hung out with him. He ended up getting hit on by some chick that decided to feed him cherries at the bar:




Then the bar closed and we were all standing outside. Everyone was planning their hookups of course.

Anyway, we got invited to an afterhours party. So we walked to it since it was just a couple blocks away.
Patrick, who hosted it, had girls with him from work. This is them drunk on the couch:



Then Todd jumped his drunk ass in the middle of them...





So I eventually got Lamont back to his hotel. But not after several phone calls from drunk friends of me having to drive to go get them and get them to a safe place.

Sigh. So here I am. AND MY ASS IS STAYING IN TONIGHT!

Cheers.

What a July...

So much to type...so little time.

I think the big focus as of late is my health. I have several things lingering over my head right now. I won't go into details just yet as I need more answers to some pretty significant questions. And no its nothing like HIV, I am negative as of today in that category. I will explain soon enuf.

I had to work 3 weeks straight ...so I haven't had time to really sit down and get things sorted out. I am working on that now.

Things at the station are really crazy. We have lost several people...morale is low...and walking into that building is a struggle right now.

I was diagnosed as "clincally depressed" last week when getting on this blood pressure stuff checked out. Me? Depressed? HA! :)

Okay, so what if I am depressed. Why am I?
At least that is the question I asked myself.

So I thought about it.
I am in the career I have always wanted- good thing
I am alive- very good thing
I have a puppy- an adorabley good thing
I am in a great city- a socially good thing
I am making friends- definately a good thing

I am single- could be a good/bad thing
I am alone- a bad thing
I am having bad luck at dating- a bad thing
I hate my station- a uncomfortable bad thing
I miss my family- good thing I do, bad that feel it

It is weird. I had always thought Drew and I would be the long lasting couple that would make it through anything. Those of you that have been my friends for awhile I am sure thought the same. I had such bad luck in a sense prior to Drew. I always has school to worry about..and my career...and just had a hard time finding a click. Then I did.

I know Drew is going to read this and think oh lord...what is that boy thinking now. But it is tough sometimes to lay here in bed...and watch Roseanne...and know that he would be laying next to me. More than likely eating cheesesticks or chicken rings.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am happy that Drew and JJ are together. I love both of them dearly. I guess I just wanted Drew to know that I did appreciate our 3 years. They were special...and I may not find anything close to that again...maybe I will. But it was my first real LTR that has had a huge impact on my life. That I will not forget.

I have tried to date here so far as well. Not much luck. "N" has alot to sort through right now...and is becoming someone I do care about alot. "K" well...I think he does like me. But not in the same way as I felt for him. He too has alot to deal with, but I have come to terms with that and no longer wish to hope.

Most here just want sex. That's it. Granted that is fun, it is also very much depressing. I am in a romantic city...one of the most in the country. Where is the romance?

Okay, so I guess I do know what I am depressed about at times. But I don't think I need to be on medicine for it. I know what's wrong. I just can't fix it. I wish I had that power.

I am planning to take off the end of August. I need it right now to just chill and think and have fun as well. I am about to enter the time of the year that I am most mentally upset...and bad things happen EVERY fall. I have to do what I can to prevent that this year.

Man, I just reread all of this. I hope I am not making you depressed while reading it. I need to find more cheery things to talk about.

Any ideas?