And it’s his birthday today!! Let’s celebrate by gazing at his hawtness…

I have actually met him (Fred is a friend of his) and he is just as beautiful in reality. He is also a very nice guy, which I imagine is kinda rare in “gay-celeb” land.. So Happy Birthday Reichen!

tagged: gay birthday hot reichen lehmkuhl celebrity

daniel · late morning · 3 comments · ping it

Apparently today is Ryan Barry’s birthday. I used to have an informant that kept me up to date on my Gay Superstar Celeb News, but clearly he’s sleeping at the wheel! I had to get news of this important day via the internet. *disappointed* However, we here at dp.com are happy to have posted this, our birthday tidings, before the clock struck twelve.

You may remember Ryan from previous posts here and here.

Happy birthday Ryan!

tagged: birthday ryan barry armani underwear model gay celeb

daniel · early evening · say it · ping it

Well. I gotta say, officially:

Welcome, to the end of Richard’s Birthday. I hope you don’t take umbrage with that.

It has been a whirlwind. A whirlwind! Sunday we had a moment where I gave him a card. We had to work. Monday was the ‘no big deal’ dinner that we go out to every week anyway, only with a few surprise guests that became the *only* surprise and a ton of fun after our 4 months in the works Surprise At Wild Animal Park Saturday was spoiled by an otherwise well-intended e-card. (Run on sentence, anyone?) Tuesday was.. breakfast and lunch out. Wednesday he had cocktails with Sheila. Thursday we had to work. Friday was The Happy Hour at The Hotel Del Coronado That Turned Into Dinner and a Crashed Wedding Reception (well, we didn’t crash it, but our friends that were with us did...). Weee! And then we land on our crown jewel of Birthday Week…

Wild Animal Park. Not just a trip to the park with 7 close friends that he knew about. Oh no. Sheila and I still had one last secret. Well 2 really. But one from the original plan. 

It was a behind the scenes VIP Tour at The Wild Animal Park. I hope someone got a picture of his reaction because he was so shocked/happy it was comical. The tour was great fun. I do recommend it especially if you are a Zoo Member as it makes it more affordable. Anyhoo. So we did that. But Sheila had one last trick up her sleeve and kept us on a timeline. After the tour and a bit of fun at the park it was my job to get Richard all the way downtown by 4:30. We were to have afternoon cocktails, nibbles, and watch the sun set on a yacht. And we did. OMG.

It was an amazing and dramatic and exhausting week. The whole surprise element I thought might kill me. I am bad at secrets like that. I was confused, I couldn’t remember who I told what and whom I invited where and what lies I had told! I finally told Sheila that next year if we are gonna try and surprise Richard, just keep it to yourself and send me a bill for my share after. I don’t want to know. LOL!! But it was fun and I am thrilled that he had such a great week. Lots of pictures to come on Flickr.

Now I think I might have to go back to bed. I am pooped. Heh. *yawn*

tagged: richard birthday safari birthday week wild animal park   happy, relieved

daniel · lunch time · say it · ping it

To the most important person in my life, the man who has stood by me through good and bad for 11 (or 12) years, my partner, my confidante, my friend, my lover…

Thank you for spending another year of your life with me! Happy Birthday!

tagged: richard birthday richardallen

daniel · mid-morning · 9 comments · ping it

So today is my mother’s birthday. Aw. My mom! And I am nowhere near her. I sent her flowers tho. They got there early. I figured since they screwed up the last time so bad (the 1-800-Flowers people, I mean) I sent them over to her 2 days early to account for the delivery suckage. I don’t know how much she liked them. I didn’t hear from her for a full day after I got the delivery confirmation in my email. Weird. And even then her note was about so many other things. I dunno. I hate being so far sometimes. I miss my family. It’s the things like birthdays and Mother’s Day that make me feel it more. Don’t get me started on Christmas…

Anyhoo, tonight is pretty low key. Richard is watching the shows he’s missed somehow even tho I saw them. (Isn’t the DVR technology just grand?) I am up here in the office looking at a lot of blogs but not commenting. I need to comment more, I know. I am just in a weird spot right now. I figure if I can get posting on my own blog 3 times a day again it will be time to go play more social again. You see, I was reading this interesting post over at The Blog Herald. And before you can even say it, yes. Yes I am a blogger that reads about blogs and blogging. I find it balances all of my celebrity gossip consumption. 

So yeah, it was a post about what to do if you find you are off your blogging path, so to speak. Whatever, I know what people are thinking. It’s a blog. It’s not a job. No one reads it, it’s not even in the ‘top 25’. Right. I realize not everybody thinks like that. I kid. Kinda. But srsly. There were some valid symptoms and these interesting questions presented:

Why am I blogging?
Who am I blogging for?
What am I blogging for?
What is my blog’s purpose?
What is my blog’s mission?
Where was my blog a year ago?
Where is my blog now?
Where will my blog be next year?
Where will my blog be in two years?
Where do I really want it to be?
Do these answers make me happy right now?

I know at first glance it seems silly to contemplate a blog. I took it seriously because I actually take my blog seriously. No, it’s not a serious blog. But dude, I have like 4 years tied up in here. Good times and bad. Good writing and bad. Mostly bad, but it’s still an exercise. It’s a commitment that I have made to myself and for the most part stuck too. I think in the course of this blog I have only missed like 5 or 6 days (maybe 10?) of posting. Total. In four years. That’s awesome! I totally feel like I lived up to the commitment I made in the beginning, before the link whoring, before the snazzy designs, before my self proclaimed internet fame. Heh. But I do think of quitting the blog sometimes. Shocking. I don’t really want to tho. I dunno. I think I need to go old school for a while. Less bitching, possibly less Idol, and much less filtering what I want to say. This may include the ‘what I did today’ posts more often, because that’s where it started. That’s where I got my footing in the beginning, and the core of what I avoid here now. Put on the iPod and just type my life. That’s what I want to get comfy with again before I go on to the next thing. Whatever that might be.... 

tagged: blogging blog people internet christmas birthday exercise questions whoring filtering

daniel · evening · 1 comment · ping it

Tonight I think I discovered my new favorite place. It is called, quite simply, Martinis. I love it there. First off, there is an elevator to get up there. Fabulous, right? Especially on Girls Night (where oddly there is always only one girl, but that kinda makes sense if you know Sheila. She is loved..) so those in heels aren’t climbing stairs… It’s in the gayborhood. The decor is great, and it seems to be a great mixed crowd. The pretty people, the average, and a few of the tragic. Heh. Srsly, there was a group of people playing quarters with their martinis. Not pretty. Oh! I didn’t mention the best part about this place. The martinis! There must have been sixty different kinds.. Kinda overwhelming, but in that good way. Plus, the glasses are really enormous.  I have decided I want my birthday in that place. Maybe the next one at least. And just imagine it, with my new diet there can be no cake. So obviously there will be a theme martini! I am sure they could do one that tastes like cake…

[This post brought to you by Booze. Mmm, boooze...]

tagged: people birthday booze night fabulous pretty girls cake mmm martinis   Erasure - Star    

daniel · the wee hours · 1 comment · ping it

I have to admit. I do feel bad. It is a good friend’s birthday. Well, not today actually. It was Thursday. I guess you could say it’s Birthday Week. There have been things planned everyday since Thursday. So far we have missed every one of them. Isn’t that just awful? And it’s totally unavoidable. We work retail and it is Easter week. Ain’t nobody getting a day off… no one will swap shifts either. We are closing! So we are a bit stuck.

Anyway, last night was supposed to be fabulous. Rooftop cocktails downtown or something. I really would have loved that! But then I saw this post at Fred’s, and something made me feel better. Specifically the part that says “It’s the morning after, and all I can say is, I’m never drinking again.  Oy Vey!”. Perhaps better to have missed that, as I woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed this morning… Heh!

Still, I have to say Happy Birthday Sheila. You are a treasure, and I hope Birthday Week is amazing! We’ll see you tomorrow…

tagged: work birthday booze birthday week

daniel · lunch time · 2 comments · ping it

Everyone, I want you all to join in. I mean it!

“Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday to you..  Haaappy Birthday Dear Freeeeeeeddddddddddd.” Happy Birthday to you and junk. I mean it.

I was a bit taken tonight when it struck me that all the people around me that I loved and hung out with pretty regularly I had met because of one man. Fred. It was a long time ago that we had met. I had blogged about my potential move to San Diego. Fred contacted me thru the IM or as we Mac folk call it, iChat. I was a bit shocked as I was new to IM’ing at the time… But he persisted and I soon had one of my first online friends. It was great having someone in San Diego to chat with as I moved my whole life here. I had a local friend. Sure we hadn’t met, but that’s the beauty of the internets. We didn’t need to. We had bonded. Time passed and soon we met in real life at a local Chevy’s. We hit it off in person, as we knew we would, but meeting internet people is always weird. You never know. Luckily it worked out. Fred has been a great friend. He has introduced us into his circle. We have gained not just friends, but family thru him. I consider Fred family.

Anyhoo. I just wanted to document the day.
Happy birthday yo. You rock! Thank you for letting me and my man into your life. We appreciate you more than you know.

tagged: birthday internets family pretty   happy

daniel · the wee hours · 2 comments · ping it

So… yeah. What to sayabout my birthday? I wasn’t sure. So I looked back in the archives. It appears that back when I used to be able to barter for the day off I really didn’t do much. Take 2005 as an example:

I slept in until a luxurious 10 am. I leisurely had breakfast while read blogs. Next, I vacuumed the whole house, starting at the bottom. (I don’t like to vacuum stairs while walking down backwards. I feel like I’ll fall down.) After that I cleaned up the garage a bit. I wanted to make sure all the Christmas decor fits back into the shelves. There’s so much mare this year!

After that, I threw out the poinsettias. They had lost way too many leaves to be considered healthy. While I was at it I put away the fake one that the cat always chews on. The UPS guy rang the bell, but he must have been in a hurry because he was gone before I got to the door. I was instead greeted by a box from Amazon! It was a gift from 2 of my good online friends (that I almost met in person once). Thank you soo much! It’s just what I wanted… Then I got dressed. I took my time because I had nowhere to be. I didn’t shave though, and I wish I had because now I have to today.

It was a bit after 2 when Richard got home from work. He was on the 4am to 2pm. He was very tired. We went to Target. Bickered. Went to Chevy’s for cocktails and take-out. When we got home we bickered while eating, watched Elf, and Richard went to bed. He had already been sleeping in his chair. This was like 8 or 9. I watched what was probably a re-run of Joey and downloaded a Wanda Wisdom podcast and went to bed. I listened to Wanda for about an hour before falling to sleep myself.

I think that’s everything.

Um. So yeah. This year, like the last, I worked instead. At least I wasn’t home alone plotting Christmas crap storage. Good lawd. Speaking of last year, let’s continue with the ghost of birthdays past and take a look:

Here at the home front not much happened. I woke up, dressed, went to work, survived a day of retail in December, and came home to an empty house. Richard did bring home some Chevy’s take-out, which was nice. And for the special occasion I got flan. Not that I didn’t appreciate the flan. Lawd knows I love a good flan!

Sheesh. Is December over yet? Stick a fork in me people. I am done.

So it turns out, after all my feeling sorry for myself… (I know, I suck!) This year’s b’day was better than I have had since my arrival in San Diego. Before bed on the 21st I got an e-card from one of my first online friends. The next day, I woke to a lovely e-card from a local friend reminding me that “no matter what, I own the day”. Something like that anyway, and while I love the idea behind that sentiment, my company owned the day, like so many other days. I had to work. Heh. But I loved the card! I also had not one but TWO iTunes gift certificates! I adore iTunes almost as much as I adore the fine folk that gifted me. Thanks Brian and soapbox.SUPERSTAR!! You guys rock for looking after me like you do. I appreciate it! Then, yeah. I was off to work again. When I got home there were chores undone that I had to do. I was still feeling sorry for myself. I got a bit cranky. Sad, I know, but December is a cruel little bitch that torments my mind! But I finished up and went upstairs and got all cute for my dinner date with Richard. We went to our usual mexican place, Jimmy Carter’s. It was not busy. We had a relaxed meal. On the way home Richard surprised me with a package, but would not let me open it. We never do gifts. I was a bit surprised.

Once we got home I was allowed to open it. It was Tom Ford! Well, Tom’s fragrance. Remember how I fell in love like with it, even though the ad was kinda raunchy? Well later that day as I wore it I became obsessed with the stuff. But I couldn’t find it at my mall, and am not shopping for fun this month… But now I have it. A really big bottle too. This size would have covered that model’s crotch a bit better…

Anyhoo. So yeah. With a little perspective and support from friends, I managed to have a nice birthday. I thank you. 

tagged: work richard retail itunes birthday bitch chores december crotch package

daniel · late at night · 5 comments · ping it

Did you see that? Did a tumbleweed just blow through? Can’t be. It’s winter! Even here in San Diego! But I do have to admit, it has been quiet in this place. I swear, every time I sit down to chat with you all, or type something interesting I just find that I am too tired. Tired and burnt out. To tell you the truth, no matter how ‘easy’ I claim my December to be, it is always the same as far as mental burnout. Something about the holidays, or winter, or my birthday. Something about the whole thing just makes me tired. Plus I hate this month.

Anyhoo. So yeah. Hi! I missed you all. I am sorry for all the link-tastic content. And the You Tubes. How has your December been? Really, I want to know. Does it kinda suck for the non-retail folk too? It has to. I mean unless you are independently wealthy with a staff of your own, I cannot imagine December to be one of the ‘fun’ months. Like July. I love July! It has to be my favorite! And I don’t even like the heat so much! Well, I like it better than I did. Something about a convertible in San Diego made me see the light on that one. So what else? Why was I here up in your face for today? *thinks* .. Hrm. I dunno. I really don’t have a lot to talk about since I am like 90 percent at work lately. I could tell you stories about that but I think we all know the gist of what goes on… selfish, self-important, slobbish, rude, messy.. you know. You see it when you shop!

So, did you know it’s my birthday tomorrow? Srsly. In like 15 minutes I will have aged one more year, officially. I hate that shit. Oddly enough, this year I had to go in to the DMV for the license renewal bit. New picture and prints, right? Well I went thru the whole procedure. I followed all the steps correctly. What did I get in the mail today? My new Driver License. I look like a bloated lesbian. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But still. Talk aboot fugly. I am contemplating pretending I never got it for a re-take photo. I am quite sure I do not look like that. And I think the photo is too cropped. You cannot even see my hawt new Levi’s. I look good in those!

But enough about that. I was talking about my birthday. It’s tomorrow. But at work they got it into their head to do a singing thing today. Why? I do not know. It was clearly last minute. I don’t eat cake. They got nachos. Would have been fine, but they got beef on them. I don’t eat beef. Ever. Then it turned out to not be beef nachos but carne asada fries. Basically like a nacho but with fries instead of chips. Ew. Kinda gross. But they sang. I served them the fries I wouldn’t eat. Weird. It was all kinda uncomfortable. I do appreciate the gesture tho. I hate having a December birthday. It sucks more than one would think. Every year. Even my parents couldn’t even get a good birthday gig for me that time of year. And, any gift had holiday wrap. Or comics. What the hell with the comic pages? Cheap much? I’d have rather had holiday wrap. Even as a child.

Turns out there is no plan for tomorrow either. I was originally working all day, 12-9… I told Richard I was moving my shift, but he forgot and assumed I’d just be at work. So he asked me what the plan was!? I think he’s taking me to our usual little Mexican place for dinner, since that is what I told him I expected. At least, anyway. No plan for my birthday! Not even a stand-by! Has this happened to you? So now I am having to wake up for an ugly 7 AM start time, with no reason. No dinner plan. Nada. I wish I had kept my 12-9. At least I could’ve slept in.

I fucking hate December. [/self centerd bitch-fest]

tagged: work richard holiday tired birthday lesbian parents december holidays ew   sour, bitter, and jaded.

daniel · the wee hours · 12 comments · ping it