Our cat, Chanel, has been pretty sick. I am worried about the poor guy. He just doesn’t seem to be getting better.

It started just over a week ago. He was throwing up. Not entirely unusual, as he has had a lot of problems over the years. We don’t get too alarmed at a little cat barf. It’s par for the course. We assumed he had overeaten or something. But it kept going. He wasn’t keeping down any food at all. He stopped asking for food. So, Richard decided it was time for a trip to the doctor. We couldn’t just have a barfing cat the entire time my folks were here… Tests were done, hydration injections were administered. The bill added up. We were sent home. Diagnosis so far: Feline Pancreatitis. We were to not feed him for a few days, just give him medications. We tried. Most of the time he couldn’t keep those down. We just started giving him the tiniest amount of food. Tuna actually, since it is “easy to digest”. He had trouble with that. Sadly anything that finally stays down causes problems on the other end. Severe diarrhea. Ew, right?

The poor guy has no energy. No motivation. He’s losing weight. He doesn’t even *want* food! Worse, I have only seen him drink water twice in the last 4 days. It’s scary and sad.

Mostly sad.

tagged: richard cat sick home chanel

daniel · mid-afternoon · 6 comments · ping it

Oh look! I DO have a blog!

How is life? Mine, well, pretty good actually. My parents just left Saturday after a fun 7 day visit. Yes, I did say fun. My parents are young for my age as well as young for their ages (it makes sense, think about it). So we were on the go every day. I woke up early, well early for me, every day and took them on an adventure!

Saturday, after fetching them from the San Diego Airport we stopped off at C Level to toast their arrival and enjoy the view. Sunday we headed off to Old Town, where to my surprise there was an Art Festival! We looked at everything. After we were done there, Mom insisted on a trip to the Swap Meet. Ew… we capped off the day with dinner at the Turf Supper Club. Awesome place! What better way to follow up a meal in a dive than a trip to the shishy-est sky bar Altitude?? Monday was all about rest and a home cooked (by me!) meal. Tuesday we did the Geocaching with dad, since it was Richard’s day off. Plus, we wanted to try it with our iPhones. It works! So now we have a log in at the site and 7 caches under our belt. LOL. Obviously Mom had other plans, and was off for a Shopping Day with one of our friends. Later we de-parented at the big SDTweet-Up (#sdtweetup). That was, as always an amazing time! Wednesday my folks and I were off to Temecula Valley Wine Country for a day of tasting and scenery. Fantastic! Thursday was more Geocaching around town. That Geocaching is a great way to see some great sights you wouldn’t otherwise… That night I was pooped so Dad manned the grill and we dined out on the patio at home. Friday was when I finally had to sleep in! Well, till 9:30.. we lazed at the house till Richard got home. He had ditched work early so we shopped and hit up Bing Crosby’s Piano Lounge until it was time for the crowning jewel of the visit: dinner at Kous Kous. My folks got to eat well (very well! you MUST go to Kous Kous!) and meet up with our friends and generally have a great night out. Although we had drinks first at Martinis Above 4th, where the owner stressed me out when he KISSED Richard hello in front of my father. That’s when my father realized we had taken him to a GAY bar. OMG OMG OMG. He never would have known otherwise… Oh well. No harm was done. All was erased by the amazing food at Kous Kous!

As for Saturday… Well that was for packing and the Airport. Buh-bye!

You know what?

I already miss them.

tagged: richard gay blog san diego shopping mom food parents surprise wine

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it

I took a nap today. An actual real life out for an hour (or three?) nap. WTF? I never nap. I hate napping. In fact, people that do nap normally annoy me. There will be plenty of time for sleep when we are dead!

But today it was me. We got back from dropping off Richard’s car, had breakfast (that is the new deal for getting up early to drive each other to appointments), met *Eric* the window guy, and then I went to the couch and went to sleep. You see, I haven’t had much ‘sleeping in’ time. In fact, I have been up early for the last 3 or four days off that I had. So my excuse for the weakness that caused me to nap is all the waking up early. Especially since I had not really gone to bed earlier. I try to go to bed, but normally can’t sleep for a bit, so I will read, or listen to podcasts, or play with my phone. You know, till sleep comes to me. Right. So I napped. The weird thing is that sleeping in the middle of the day has put me in this time warp. I have lost time people! It was almost a panicky feeling at first. I hate it.

I should have just made coffee.

tagged: richard daniel sleep nap nap-time

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 wild animal park birthday week   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 if you have ever been to our house you have heard stories of Bad Neighbor Kitty. We aren’t quite sure where he lives. He torments our cats by hanging out outside the windows. He torments us by peeing in our yard and knocking stuff over. He torments the neighborhood by sitting in the road and yowling for no reason. It’s a hoot. In that really annoying way. Anyhoo, the other day he caught a bird. One of the birds that lived in our backyard all spring. He saw me pull up and darted into the bushes. The bird just seemed to have bent feathers. I figured he’d be okay, not realizing that it couldn’t fly well, since it managed to fly into our backyard. Well apparently he has been grounded since. Because Richard was out with our cat Coco, who found the bird in the bushes and tried to bring it in the house. Yes, I said he tried to bring it into the house. Ew. So it turns out that Bad Neighbor Kitty has been toying with the mangled bird for the last 2 days because I have heard him yowling in the backyard in the night, and the little bird was clearly much worse off and bleeding.

What do we do? Clearly it’s nature (kinda) taking course. The little bird is at this point in the neighbor’s yard (Richard tried to move him and he managed to fly that far). I don’t think he’s long for this world, and I can hear Bad Neighbor Kitty close by… Yowling.

tagged: richard neighbors cat cats night house backyard birds coco bad neighbor kitty

daniel · early evening · say it · ping it

Okay, so it was Sunday morning. I had been out a bit to late, but was up early and feeling pretty good. I was opening at work and was due in by 6. I got myself showered, fed, dressed, and smelling good all with a minimal of fuss. I even made a lunch! Richard was ready earlier and headed out the door, even tho we were both due at our respective jobs at the same time. It wasn’t a carpool day, so I was lagging about 5 minutes behind him. I finally made it down stairs and was at the door balancing my man-bag, waters, lunch, and phone all at once. I opened the door to the garage to put on my shoes that are always sitting just outside that door. As I slipped on the second shoe I lost my balance.

Time stopped.

It was in slow motion that I caught myself and heard the door click shut.

Shut.

And locked.

“This can’t be happening” I thought. I blinked. I tried the door. Locked. I shook my head and tried it again. Harder. Locked.

I was in my garage with my man-bag, waters, lunch, and my phone. I had no keys. My car was locked. I was locked out out of the house. My keys were just inside. I panicked.

You see, even tho this had happened before (to RICHARD, not ME!!) we had no spare key tucked away. I tried everything I could think of to “break-in”... Not being a pro at that I had no luck. There was no way any of my credit cards were gonna pop the lock. I tried 2 of them, so I know! I was also trying to call Richard. He was not far and could’ve turned around. Well at first. But with each passing moment that he didn’t answer he was further and further away. So I went to plan.. erm… C. Yes, plan C at tis point. I have everyone’s number from my job! Who could I call at 5:20 in the morning? Who could save me?

As I went down the list it slowly occurred to me. I had only one option that could get to my store and let the staff in on time. My boss. So after dreading it and trying with renewed desperation to credit card the door open for 10 minutes I called him. Yes he was up. Yes he would open and wait for me. And he laughed at me the whole time. I was so embarrassed. Ugh. I explained that I had to get ahold of Richard to get him to come back home. He was fine with waiting. He was still laughing. I died a little on the inside.

So after Richard got all the way to work he had to turn around and let me in to get my keys so I could go to work. I was only a half an hour late in all, but humiliated. We now have emergency procedures in place should such an event occur again.

tagged: richard work morning emergency event embarrassed locked out

daniel · early evening · 2 comments · ping it

We finally got WiFi in the house. No there’s still no laptop. It’s for the phones. Heh. Erm, yeah. 2 iPhones suddenly justified WiFi. In the form of a Time Capsule. Because that also offers 500 GB of storage. 2 birds one stone and all that. (Can I justify spending or what?)

Anyhoo, it makes me laugh how now there is always one of us at the desktop and another surfing on the phone… Instead of you know, being impatient. LOL. After 12 years together it is clearly the little things that give us joy.

tagged: richard blogging online wifi

daniel · late afternoon · 1 comment · ping it

Okay. No it didn’t. Well it kinda did.

You see, our good friend Fred was going to skip pride and drive down to LA for an event. After much debate and confusion Richard and I ended up tagging along. The itinerary was this: Leave San Diego by noon, drive to LA, check into hotel, go eat, go back to hotel to get pretty, go to Outfest movie premier, and hit after party at a club. After that there was no set plan other than an eventual return to SD on Saturday no later than 5:00 PM.

Well kids, it was exactly as planned. The drive to LA is about 2.5 hours. Thankfully Richard and I had our iPhones. More thankfully than that, Fred’s car has multiple power outlets. Heh. So the drive up passed pretty quick. We checked into a surprisingly nicer than expected Days Inn. It wasn’t great, but not horrible either. It was right next to an In-N-Out Burger, which became the immediate solution to our second task upon getting to town. I refused. I was trying to be as flexible and non-bitchy as possible. I know I don’t travel well, so I tried to be nice about it. It was a fine choice for them, but I’d still need to eat soon too, and I won’t eat burger. Luckily, after I carefully got that out on the table, Fred’s innate Cruise Director Instincts took over. He suggested a trip to The Grove. Brilliant. Many food choices for everyone. We hit the road. Of course as soon as he pointed it out, we had decided on The Whisper Lounge. It is pure glamour. An open-air establishment with drapery and pretty people and.. I can’t describe it really. It’s just fabulous. So we went in and proceeded to order up snacks and cocktails. I don’t remember when he noticed, but Fred made us aware that Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott were behind us with their family (we assume). OMGOMGOMG!!! As soon as he said it I could HEAR HER. I mean, she has a distinctive voice. OMG. We tried not to make a scene. I *really* wanted to get a photo, or talk to her… Something. Fred wisely reminded me that I need to “act normal” and treat her like anyone else. “We don’t want to ruin her time, right?” He’s good like that since he knows people. I took his advice and refrained. Richard staged a bathroom trip so he could ogle them. I sat and listened in. We stayed a long time… Tori and crew had several bottles of champagne. Well, at least 2. LOL. Finally our time was up and we had to go get pretty. Richard insists that Tori smiled at him as we left… OMG!

So getting ready for the Premier was pretty stressful since I had forgotten a belt. My outfit NEEDED a belt. I tried to con my man out of his, but he was having none of it. So we went out on the town with me already feeling kinda insecure. I mean really. LA? Without a belt? As soon as we arrived at the Ford Amphitheater I forgot all about it. Not only is the venue gorgeous, but there were soooo many pretty people. Pretty boys… I mean it *was* Outfest, right? So anyway, the theater is backed up to a hill, and the natural landscape is the main feature of the place. It’s really awesome, actually. We headed up to the top, where they was a concession stand, as well as the entrance for the celebs… Red carpet people! Wich in this case was a red mat taped to the sidewalk with an “Outfest” logo’d backdrop. Hrm. Fanceh. But whatever. We hung out, sipping our drinks. Fred found a photographer friend of his that chatted with us a bit and snapped our picture. Woo!

So the movie was Mulligans. It was actually really good. I liked it, tho the story was painful. But a movie that makes you feel anything has done it’s job. Plus the actors were a pretty bunch. Heh.

After the movie we headed over to Eleven for the VIP after party. Fred was on The List. Richard and I hadn’t been to a nightclub like that in years. It was a big time. Especially the part were we got to go upstairs to the VIP area and hang out with the cast of the film. Again, Fred was on The List. It was awesome… I got to meet Reichen Lehmkuhl who was also at the after party. Let me just pause a moment to let that sink in… 

OMG!OMG!OMG! REICHEN!!! OMG!OMG!OMG!

Okay. So after we got tired of the madness of the club we headed to some sidewalk bar/restaurant for a bit. That was a great time as we got to watch the crazies of WeHo pass by as we ate and enjoyed a few more cocktails. We made it back to the hotel by like 2:30ish. LOL

The next day (Saturday) we didn’t want to rush right out. Obviously a bit of sleeping in and hydrating were in order, plus the traffic going down to San Diego (Pride morning) could be icky… So we left the hotel at checkout time and had an amazing brunch-ish meal at Hugo’s followed by a trip to the old Xanadu site and another trip to The Grove, for shopping. A perfect morning. My friend Fred really is an excellent Cruise Director. Plus he knows his way around. AND he drove. Really, really awesome. As we cruised slowly to the freeway Fred spotted a familiar face. As he pointed out Ms. Doris Roberts, she bent over right on the side of the road to pick up… A COUPON! LOL! Classic! Once on the freeway, on the way home, we sang songs from the Xanadu soundtrack with the windows down in traffic. Just in case people weren’t already aware that the car was full of ‘mos. LOL

Fred pulled up to our house to drop us off at like 4:57 PM. Three minutes to spare. Talk about sticking to the itinerary!

tagged: richard shopping party omg photo house pretty fabulous boys movie

daniel · early evening · 2 comments · ping it

For the first time since we have lived in San Diego, Richard and I are off for Pride Weekend. So what do we do?

Skip town! Really… We are going up to LA tonight for a bit of Outfest ‘08 and an after party. Fred mentioned it to us and I think Richard caught him off guard when he said he wanted to go. Now we are both going! We’ll be back sometime Saturday so we aren’t missing everything. Heh. I just think it’s funny we are leaving town.

tagged: richard party weekend pride saturday

daniel · late morning · say it · ping it