Memorial Day in HOT-LANTA!

DAY 28.....


So the first of the warm holiday's for the year....and I would like to just take a minute in my little corner of the internet to say THANK YOU to all of the men and women that we have lost while they have so bravely defended our country...and a special THANK YOU to those who continue to do so everyday.


This weekend was great... it was full of fun times, great people, hot weather, hot people, great weather... all the same... Softball tournaments are always great, this weekend I went to the Hotlanta Big Peach tournament with my team the Club Cafe Crew. Being my first East Coast tournament it was a bit strange to not really know anyone... and as soon as I was thinking that during the weekend I ran into two great friends of mine, Charlie and Mark....so great to see both of them.


Though the tournament didn't go as well as we had all hoped that it would (we went 1-3-1) it was a weekend for me to get to know the team that I am on a lot better than I had. There was no softball drama and some great relationships came out of the time spent together. I figure if I focus on all of the good, I can't focus on the shitty way that I played ... UGH... LOL.


So the evening and weekend are wrapping up and tomorrow starts, yet again, the job search. I am standing by my decision to leave my last work opportunity because I just don't think that I have enough time on this earth to be that unhappy that quick at a job... I will wake up early, shower and head out to a coffee shop with wi-fi and set up a little office space for myself and get to work finding work.

The apartment is coming along nicely... let's not pretend it has gotten any bigger, but it is starting to look a little cute. We are coming up on some great months here in the city. Art is coming to visit in just over a week for Boston Pride, I am heading to see my mom in a couple of weeks... I have a great team with a few more weeks of softball coming up and then World Series to look forward to. It all sounds great.


But with all of this good... does still come sadness... I miss my friends in Seattle... Cookie, Jeremy, Art, Gia, Brandon, Barbie.... the list goes on and on and on....... I knew that the transition would be difficult..... but at times is almost seems insurmountable... but I will get over it... 


TIP OF THE DAY: If you can't stand the heat get out of Atlanta!


Until Next Time...

STAND

Day 24


It was Christmas Day of 2011 that I decided in my head that it was time to leave Seattle. That decision turned into so much more than just deciding to change cities. Many of you know the process that I went through... are you kidding - I counted down from 77 days until the day that I left. But in that time, I sold almost everything that I owned and threw away even more...and I don't mean little things... I mean family things, the guest book to my dad's funeral, cards that I gave to him and to my mom and things that they gave to me. I realized that these were "things" that I did not need, the memories that came with them will always be with me...and those that disappear, I think were meant to disappear over time. 


So where am I going with this....
This week I made a move that I have explicitly told others not to do... I QUIT MY JOB with nothing in the works... and yes, I know on the outside looking in how stupid that seems. But in part of the decision to move I promised myself happiness... I promised myself to stop living to please others or to attempt to meet others expectations of me - but to live the life that I want to live. My chance at this life, is a short existence - and I want to enjoy it. What this decision also did for me was make me realize that there are a number of people that support me, perhaps not my decisions, but ME... and whatever comes with that. This week, at a time when I knew it was going to be difficult, my softball team came through. I have made new connections, new friends and I have been made aware of new opportunities because of these new people in my life.


So, life is a bit stressful right now for sure... but at the end of the day... with some sound lyrical guidance (and the reason for the title of the post) from my new friend Brett...he let me borrow "his song":

Well you just stand

when there's nothing left to do 

you just stand

Watch the lord see you through

Yes after you've done all you can,

You just stand

-from the song Stand by Donnie McClurkin-

** this post would have been done an hour ago... but TJ called and I had to answer the phone cuz he gets whiney....and then he made me mention him in the post... **

So here is my tip of the day: 

BPSR (.. that is for you too Brett ..) Be Positive, Stay Real! Brett says that... and boy does it make sense. Life REALLY is short. I am not saying quit your job if you don't like it... but I am saying, for me only, that when your job impedes the happiness that you should feel in the rest of the time that you are awake... then a re-positioning of priorities may need to take place.

OK.. Off to Atlanta tomorrow for a softball tournament with my Boston Club Cafe Crew Boys!!! Good luck to my Seattle friends travelling to San Fran!!

Until Next Time....

It's FRIDAY....... Oh wait......

Day 18..... TGIF, Right???

Well, for sure, having a social life in a brand new city again is not an easy task!

Gone are Happy Hour's at Purr, meeting Mathias on the corner and walking to get our seats at Purr for the evening. And where is Paula? And... right about now (or 3 hours from now because of the time change) I would be trying to talk Cookie into going out tonight and for the umpteenth time, he would explain to me again that Friday night is date night for he and Cleo...hmph....

Instead tonight will look different. I suppose not bad or good... just different.

So, I think that I am going to head home and get a haircut someplace... (I would go to Ojee's because it is the only place that I know about because of Bill).... but I don't want my hair to look like his - I KID I KID, he knows he is adorable!
I am going to make dinner... and then I am going to head out to meet Patrick and kinda crash a going away party.... but as Art would say... it is at a bar, with lots of people... who cares? LOL...

I have a game tomorrow at 2 pm, so I have plenty of time to rest up tomorrow morning... so I may have a cocktail or two tonight. (This is NOT audience participation... everyone put away your surprised faces about the cocktails).

I have some free time this weekend so I am hoping to wrap up things in my apartment... wall art (though I am waiting for Dustin Louie to make available the best print ever to hang in my place), a plant or two and maybe a shelf, a desk and a beanbag chair... LOL  - and I will post pics soon enough!

So - no Purr, no Mathias, no Cookie............ BUT...... I have a beautiful Friday night, cocktails with Patrick (and a bunch of people along with someone who apparently is "going away") and perhaps I will run into Chris...

On a final note for the day..... if you are looking for a great radio station to listen to streaming... check out 100.5 The Peak in Vancouver... it is great music and if you listen at the right time you get to listen to the cutest DJ ever! Hi Edward!!!! :)

Enjoy your Friday night all!!!

Until next time.....

http://www.thepeak.fm/

Today we lost Summer - Not the season, THE DONNA!

NOT MY TYPICAL POST....

I started this post as a way for friends and family to follow my progress as I settle into a new old city...

Today, it is not about my progress at all... it is about a loss that, to me (and it is my little corner of the internet), was tough to hear about.

Yes, for as absolutely GAY as it sounds, I will miss Donna Summer. Nope, I didn't know her... her music though, at times,was a bit of an anthem for the time that I was struggling the most with coming out...

Sometimes you just gotta turn to music to get you through things... Good, bad, troubling, sad... music just helps.

Donna Summer is one of those artists that when you mention her name in conversation the other person automatically knows at least one song. (If you are gay... you know 10 at minimum).

So not a long post... just a moment of silence from me for her... Ms. Summer, you truly will be gone and not forgotten!

** MOMENT OF SILENCE **

Until Next Time......

Just the tip........ of the day!

Day 16....


So I had a thought while contemplating what to write about and I thought that starting in this post, I would like to leave people that read this with a take away - or a tip that directly relates to what I am writing about... so in the event that you find yourself in a similar situation... maybe you can refer to the post.


Since my last post things have been all over the board... Let's start with Mother's Day and my brother Peter and I were together with our mom for Mother's Day for the first time - EVER... and it was awesome! The two of them with my stepfather came here from NY to visit and to help me with some of my move in... and I am so much further along because of their help.


I also had the change to get back on the softball fields with my new team the Club Cafe Crew... A great group of guys... played three games, lost both on Saturday and then had a great win on Sunday (Against the league's A Division team). It was my first time playing in the B Division during the regular season and I think that I did ok... so I think I should be more and more comfortable as I continue to play. I had the chance to head out and celebrate the win on Sunday and hang out with the guys on the team which was cool. I doubt I will be doing much of that as I think it is time to slow down those Sunday's... but it was fun none-the-less :)


The two parking tickets that I got when I first moved here were both dismissed....that it good news... the apartment is coming along... (I have never put together so much furniture together in my life)... so that is good news as well...


I guess that the only down side really is that it is very lonely making a transition like this... There are very few people that I can talk to about anything, I miss my friends back in Seattle so much... I guess when I moved I didn't have any expectations, which I thought was good. But, I suppose that I never stopped to think how hard it could be or what if it wasn't right.


Just gotta give it time.... and the good thing is that I go to Atlanta next week for softball, should be fun and Art is coming in a few weeks.... that WILL be a good time!!

So today's tip: If you get parking tickets, don't hesitate to appeal them. Odds are without any kind of record, you may have a chance.

Until Next Time....... 

Now at Day 10..... Let's Review!

Day 10 in Boston.... Let's catch you up....

I got here on Tuesday morning, May 1st after taking the red eye flight direct from Seattle to Boston. May 1st... that was going to be the date that I hit the reset button on my life. No, I didn't need super drastic - just a change in scenery... I needed to be able to get somewhere and be the man that I knew that I had become which was different than the man that everyone saw.

I will get back to that.

Within 6 hours of getting into my apartment, I had a parking ticket... within 36 hours, I had two. So by the end of my first week here... I needed to get new insurance, a new drivers license, new license plates and a resident parking sticker... You can imagine how deflating that can be that early on.

My apartment is about 325 square feet of living space - yes it is ridiculously small... and with that comes challenges as well. No drawers in the kitchen, no places for pots and pans... The largest sitting area in the "living room" is 59" wide... and there is no storage... LOL....but I will make it work.... no worries.

My job... I actually think that I will like it... but my commute is a serious problem... today it took me almost 2 hours to get home... However, there is a chance that I may be able to work remotely... Stay tuned for that!

So... in the first 10 days (and THANK GOD that tomorrow is Friday)... I have taken it in the chin a couple of times. But, in the grand scheme of things, I think back and realize that a transition this big makes it very easy to focus on those things that do not go your way. So I am trying to look at those things that are...

So... I have a new home... and in working backwards... next time, maybe I can start to explain why I made that decision... or maybe I can't.

Stay tuned.... Follow Along... I like the idea of getting this all out in writing.

I thought of Cookie when I started this ... I had a blog earlier last year but I stopped writing on it. And I thank my new friend Katie, who also writes the cutest blog here... who reminded me that it might be a good idea just to get things out.

Until Next Time...

 

Chapter 1 - The "NEW" Chapter

Welcome!

So here I sit... in my bedroom, back in Boston, after just over 8 years of being absent.

Tomorrow will be one week since I left my life in Seattle. Seattle, heh, it's still a little odd to think that I don't live there anymore. With Facebook playing such a huge part in everyone's lives it almost at times seems like I am not gone.... but I am.

As this blog matures I will try to uncover things that will help me make sense of the who, what, where, when and how's of it all. I am hoping that by writing this all out - I can make it make sense.

I assume that everyone that "blogs" feels the need to rationalize why they are doing what they are doing. Who am I looking to reach? Is this just cathartic for me? Do I want a reaction? I guess I am just not even really sure.

Here it is. The start of my story. The new chapter of my life.

I will use this brief intro as the appetizer to my "story"... I will take some time and think about direction and what it is that I want to say to everyone - to the world - in hopes that people will read, enjoy, laugh, cry, comment, get mad and most of all learn. If there is one thing that I understand more now than ever before it is that we can all learn from what other's do...

Until next time........