Bit by bit, putting it together

I wake this morning realizing I had a perfect day yesterday, which began with this Twitter from Japhy79:

Old View: Life as journey. New View: Life as process. Where you are headed is less interesting than the means that gets you there.

That pretty much set the tone for the full, rewarding day that found time for all I wanted to do. Check it out:

Got in some good doggie play time with Reading before delivering cough drops to Shana and watching a slew of gay Bden clips. That alone, makes for a great day, and it was barely nine in the early a.m. Andrea showed up early so I didn't make coffee, water the lawn, or grab the checkbook so I could mail rent check -- all bad things, yes, but resolved. Keep reading.

Andrea and I stop for coffee. (Problem #1 solved. See?) L.A. Times 'scope says "Scorpio , you're headed in directions even you don't know. Get ready."

Uneventful work morning, highlighted by hiring a Post Accountant, the one task that lingered from last week and logging in to AIM for the first time since I left that other place. Caught up with some other F.A.G.'s. Talk to shrink and resolve to take a break while I'm in transitional/unpredictable work situation and sans automobile. Check.

Leave loving birthday message for Mom when I can't find her at home or on cell, only to have Goddaughter call ten minutes later to tell me about her presentation on Oklahoma. No, she didn't sing a song from the musical, like I asked, but did wear a Sooners cheerleader outfit to the chagrin of the straight uncle. She then passes phone on to Mom, from birthday lunch at the Olive Garden.

Spend afternoon on festival details for Karlovy, Provincetown, San Antonio and apps for Spain. Segue into job #2, babysitting the 2 girls. Uneventful evening with no crying, teething, poopy diapers, or misbehaving. Good chat with Jamie on the ride home, then on to...

Dinner at the Guilty Pleasure duplex -- yummy as always and good "growing up" stories, which ultimately lead retires to the living room and... Panic videos. YAY!!! I partake for only a few minutes (a definite exercise in self-discipline) and off to...

A brisk walk around the hood with Reading after a call from Mom after she heard the loving message left earlier in the day. Back to the house to water the lawn, throw down some more seed (uh, grass seed. gross.), trim rosebushes and trees, rearrange patio furniture.

Back inside to catch up on personal e-mails/facebook/myspace and a few work e-mails, too. Quality time at prince.org hitting all the usuals: religion, Prince, Wendy, Madonna. Wrap up with the preceding 3 posts on this here blog, which had been sadly neglected for a couple of weeks. (Okay, months, I know.)

And today I'm mailing the rent check I just wrote. Done and done.

Let the joy be in the doing, not in the end -- Mother Teresa

the place where John was born

May 29, 1917

everybody gets there and everybody gets their way

How have I not posted this yet? Truly, a brilliant video. And I was at the shoot. It was this day.

til the end of time...

If i wrote down the posts in my head, you would already know:

1) American Idol finale reminded me that George Michael made me gay. (He also made me start smoking, but whatever.)

2) This week is the one year anniversary of seeing Stevie Nicks live for the first time.

3) There was a third thing I wanted to write about and promised myself I wouldn't forget. Fuck it!

u want me to write my name on your walls...

To a Prince fan, "writing a name on your walls" means, well, it means that you're a top. Today I finally threw in the towel and joined the Facebook world at the encouragement of Jamie. Those yahoos over there have some other wall writing. While Prince's wall writing is definitely more fun, this one doesn't look too bad. We'll see...

2night we make love with only words
Girls first, girls first

OK, so like first
I will start by telling U how smart and intelligent a curve your behind has
And then I can tell U that I can just smell U
And racecars burn rubber in my pants
But I really dig trippin' on the thought of being caught
By somebody with your beauty, style and grace
Baby, I don't care
I would rip out my hair 4 just 2 nights with your face (Lovesexy)
I don't wanna make love 2 U
I just wanna look at U
I just wanna listen 2 U, uh, uh

Oh, pretty little whip, U got me drippin'
Drippin' all over the floor, the floor
If I come back as a woman
I want a body like yours, a body like yours
Living rooms?
I think, I think U would
I think U wanna play house
Yeah, I think U wanna play house (Lovesexy)
U don't mind
I think U… uh
I think U want me 2 f… {beep} inside of U
Yea, yeah, I... (Lovesexy)
U want me 2 sit around your living room, ha ha
Yeah, U...U want me 2 walk right down your halls
Mm hmm (Lovesexy)
U want me 2 swivel in your love seat
D-don't U, baby?
U want me 2 write my name on your walls
U want me 2 write my name on… (Lovesexy)

We make love with only words
I'll make love 2 U… 2morrow

sunny day, everything's a-ok

Today I am a week out from my last day at the last place. Damn it feels good. Not only being gone from there, but not being tied down to a 9 to 5 for the minute. I'm "working", but it doesn't feel like work. Submitting a movie to festivals and tying up the loose ends that come at the end of a film project. I'm in an air conditioned office that overlooks the backyard pool. Not a bad stopping point for a spell.

fuck em if they can't take a joke

Cobra Starship, Guilty Pleasure

let's fall in love, get married, have a baby

From page 79 of the California Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage:

Accordingly, we concluded that the right to marry, as embodied in article 1, sections 1 and 7 of the California Constitution, guarantees same-sex couples the same substantive constitutional rights as opposite-sex couples to choose one's life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship that enjoys all of the constitutionally based incidents of marriage.

Ah, to feel wholly recognized. And human. Kinda fucking cool.

NY Post: Raw Panic Steals the Show

By DAN AQUILANTE
May 10, 2008 -- A youthful vibe reigned at the Honda Civic Tour at the Roseland Ballroom Thursday night as fresh- faced fans rocked out to optimistic music played by Motion City Soundtrack, Phantom Planet and headliner Panic at the Disco.

With low alcohol consumption (most of the crowd was under 21) the party was fueled by music, dancing and togetherness.

All of the acts played well, but clearly the night belonged to the Las Vegas rockers Panic at the Disco.

Theirs was an abbreviated set, but they made the time count with well-selected songs tapped from their '05 debut, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," and the recently released "Pretty. Odd." There were no missteps or snoozy lulls.

The show opened up with "We're So Starving," a theatrical song wherein the band talks directly to the fans, telling them Panic has been off writing new songs - but not to fret, because they're still the same.

Wrong. Panic is better than it's ever been. In fact, this "Sgt. Pepper"-spiced opening song - as well as the band's growing dependence on psychedelic sonics - made you feel the weight of The Beatles' influence on this group.

In contrast to the layered arrangements of the new record, Panic's live show is streamlined to a rawer sound. That hardly dampened their enthusiasm for waving the Fab Four's freak flag, especially on "Do You Know What I'm Seeing?" and the night's showstopper, "Northern Downpour."

The band, which originally bowed with a gimmicky, makeup-heavy production, has evolved into a stunningly good live band, confident in themselves as musicians and in the quality of their songs. They're still underrated, but with shows like this - and an album like "Pretty. Odd." - that will change fast.

I'm not in Love

Old school jam of the hour:

10cc, I'm Not in Love

I love love love this song and have since I was like 6! And I love covers of it, from the Pretenders to whoever covered it on The Next Best Thing soundtrack. But the original is always golden.

I wanna go where everyone goes

This morning I was driving to work listening to my "Panic Meet the Prince" mix and realized I didn't grab my work keys. Well, since they're not really my keys anymore and I should have turned them in Friday and I would probably need them to train the FNG, I decided to turn around. I took a right on a street I'd never been on and found this awesome classic L.A. street with perfectly lined super tall palm trees on both sides of the street, and the Griffith Observatory off in the distance.

And work feels kinda great as a consultant. It just doesn't really matter anymore. 20 hours to go!

Had Thai at a hole-in-the-wall for dinner (with a Corona in honor of Cinco de Mayo!) and my (Chinese) fortune cookie said, "You are going in the right direction." Yay affirmation!

but it's better if you do.

Tonight I told my mom, the perennial worrier, that I quit my job. She responded as such, "you sound better than you did before, so it must be a good thing." Not the reaction I was expecting in the least. Things really are shaping up to be pretty odd. Yeah, I'm on my way.

In other news, my commitment to myself in leaving that place and taking positive steps is to write here every day. Even if only one sentence about my day, I need to do it. Kabbalah tune-ups don't count.

Oh, and why in the hell haven't I posted any of these yet???

miles away

I just woke up from a fuzzy dream
You never would believe those things that I had seen
I looked in the mirror and I saw your face
You looked right through me, you were miles away

All my dreams they fade away
I'll never be the same
If you could see me the way you see yourself
I can't pretend to be someone else

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles away

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

When no one's around then I have you here
I begin to see the picture, it becomes so clear
You always have the biggest heart,
When we're six thousand miles apart

Too much of no sound
Uncomfortable silence can be so loud
Those three words are never enough
When it's long distance love

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we’re at our best when we're miles away

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

I'm alright, don't be sorry, but it's true
When I'm gone you'll realize
That I'm the best thing that happened to you

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles a-a-away...

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles away

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away