for all i care

well my black eye has finally healed. after going from red to purple to a lovely hue i call jaundice yellow. which probably correlates well with my elevated liver enzymes.....but that's the beauty about the liver. it can regenerate.

the weekend was very nice. a lovely dinner with the johnbrown's on friday turned into a short twirl around the dancefloor at the 'tic. i wasn't really feeling it. the people were fun, but the dj was stuck in heavy diva rotation and if i have to hear that remix of beyonce's "ring the alarm" again then it would be too soon.

saturday was perfect. tim and i did a little shopping, and later did some people watching in the park. the most amusing was a group of patagonia-wearing-granola-lesbians playing bocce ball uphill. what? makes perfect sense. and it was clear what was on one of the gals' mind judging by the way she was chomping on her gum....

dinner at Shaun's was fantastic. i really like what they have done with the old Inman Park patio, and after reading such a great review in the AJC i was eager to check it out. tim had the hanger steak and i once again showed my redneck roots and ordered the chicken liver fettuccini. delicious and very rich.

the send off party for JohnCasey was fun, but the line for drinks tended to not flow and there was just something about the energy (or lack thereof) that again i wasn't feeling. maybe i was simply missing my gratitude stone?

nothing but a heartache

well the freemasons have done it again. known for their disco-tinged house sound, they have been one of the most talked about dj duos of 2006. the freemasons are composed of russell small, house guise of one half of Phats & small and his co-producer, James Wiltshire. and they have been on a role as of late. their most recent single, "Rain down love" featuring the vocals of siedah garrett, is making the rotations of all the big house DJs. they consistently walk the line of disco and house music, with strong vocals and a sort of "hands in the air" feel. their newest and first compilation titled "Shakedown" was released this month and it generating quite a buzz. i have been a fan of the freemasons ever since i heard their remake of "love on my mind" a couple of years ago. and their remixes of "Mesmerized" and "Deja Vu" have been the themes to my trip to P Town for the past two years. there is something about their sound that just reminds me of the boat slip.

"shakedown" features remixes by the freemasons from the past two years. the first CD starts off with their massive remix of beyonce's "Deja Vu", a sample of some of their own production work like "atlantic" and "pacific", as well as remixes of angie stone and loletta holloway.

the second CD contains remixes of heather headley and luther vandross, as well as a sultry interpretation of rose royce's "love don't live here anymore", vocalled perfectly by judie tzuke. but what has really hooked me is the track titled "nothing but a heartache". simply amazing. this track is a cover of the obscure Northern Soul hit by the Flirtations (not to be confused with the other flirtations who did "like an earthquake" in the 80s. The original is on the Girl Group Sounds - Lost and Found boxed set, which was just nominated for a Grammy. The vocalist for "nothing but a heartache" is none other than sylvia mason-james, who once cover Diana Ross's "touch me in the morning".

the freemasons nail it with "nothing but a heartache". listening to this track takes me right back to P Town. it's sandwiches at Farland General store, its bike rides to herring cove, its sipping rum runners and flirting with boston boys at the boat slip. it's the A-House, it's spiritus pizza, it's David LaSalle, it's lobster bisque at the pot, its dancing with your friends to the grooves of Mary Alice. it's where i am going to be in a few months.......

The entire Freemason album, "shakedown" can be downloaded at itunes. and if you want the unmixed version of "nothing but a heartache", can be purchased and downloaded in mp3 format at xpressbeats.com.

close your eyes, count to ten, turn around, back again

looking at my new black eye in the mirror this morning, one would think that i must have had a pretty rambunctious weekend. looking back....

a failed attempt to have dinner with jeffrey had us running all of town. first to table1280, where it turned out they were having a private party. but they offered up wine and we stayed for a drink. then over to mall town to check out ashton kutcher's new restaurant Dolce. of course the wait was well over an hour. on to Strip, then the Grape, all with lengthy wait times. seems that business must be good in those parts. i mean, people from Dacula deserve their own place, right?

so we redeemed ourselves with a lovely brunch at murphy's on saturday, where the PGA women's golf tour bus must have stopped. i mean you couldn't pack more lesbians with wide wale corduroy in that place.

dinner at mitra for richard's birthday was delicious, though the service was miserably slow. i had the swordfish on a bed of Israeli couscous. perfect. then on to a party in ansley park at a house that was very beautiful....from the outside. then you walk in to see decoupaged gold wallpaper and every wrought iron animal from noah's ark. i'm talking a bombay company and kirkland's explosion. yucht.

oh whetbar, what ever will come of the? probably a 30 story condo building if things keep on keepin' on.

a west egg breakfast with tim and some loungin' with a cute boy. perfect day with the rain and cold. then over to bret's for soup and cornbread. i found it funny that the only person really paying any attention to the Saints game was the one lesbian amongst a group of ten gay guys. go figure.

now the black eye, that's for another day as it deserves a better story.

should i take the chance

last nights dinner at Trois was completely unexpected but very enjoyable nonetheless. i guess i was surprised to be going to the aforementioned restaurant with Tim. of course, we had an excellent time and the food was really great.

and what a beautiful space. our waiter was quite eccentric, and his voice mimicked Vera de Milo from In Living Color to a T. it was too funny. i had a difficult time figuring out the bathroom, but i made friends with some straight girl upstairs and she confessed that she too encountered a few problems.

now i don't know exactly what was in the margaritas, but it was liquid truth serum last night. lawrd, i couldn't shut up. and i awoke this morning with tequila and regret on my breath.

we ride

unfortunately, diane showed back up this past weekend, and here i thought she made the trip to new york with todd and brad to celebrate the King festivities....

friday night, the going away party for Carrie turned into gay taco night at casa grande followed by a spin around the heretic dancefloor. that is where i learned that i am in fact getting older. it used to be i was the youngest in my group on a night out, however, when two of the guys i was with didn't know who Kim English was or better yet what the song "Unspeakable Joy" I was mortified. certainly, they must have just skipped class the day they covered "anthems" in gay finishing school. and if i never heard that song again it would be just fine by me.

a terrible shame spiral ensued on saturday as i overslept and missed my hair appurntment and never planned a lunch outing with my parents. i mean, these hairburners gotta eat and that was just plain dumb....to schedule a morning haircut of course.

so i redeemed myself and made the drive out to marietta on sunday morning, where my mom cooked me an amazing birthday breakfast, with blueberry waffles and bacon. we visited, and then i spent the better part of the afternoon with my sister and her family. after all, this is one of my resolutions for the new year, to see my family more.

cut to max's party where i chatted up a daddy yoga instructor who turned out to be there with his dreadful boyfriend. then on to the T Dance at Fever, which turned out to be fun. the music was pretty good. and i was having big fun until the quintuplet B - er, Big, Black, Bossy, Bottom in a Burberry shirt decided to stalk me on the Dancefloor. that's when i made my exit.

harder, better, faster, stronger

thank you tony, for introducing me to Jason Whipple. can you say otter? you're right, what's not to love about this one?

flawless transgressions

i just love misheard lyrics as well as incorrect grammar. as i am guilty of both, and sometimes they occur at the same time. on new years eve, one of the late night stragglers at tim's party was attempting to pay me a compliment, only he said, "I must say, you have flawless transgressions". What? Keep in mind this was an overweight, balding, straight guy who had fled Alabama for the weekend, where he lives, because he called his wife a c*nt. yikes. that is almost as bas as calling your mom a bitch. but i knew he meant that I have "flawless transitions". in my music that is....

the boy scout and i had an excellent dinner last night at my new favorite restaurant, Quattro. it's a cute place, with excellent pizzas, salads, and paninis. how did i just discover this place? the staff is friendly, and the owner looks just like my Truro lover from Ptown. speaking of
P Town....

big changes are about to take place at work. this mornings mandatory staff meeting was very dramatic. i should have known that something big was going on when they made all members of my department conference call in at 6:30am, even if they had the day off. our business is down by 50% when compared to last year, and people are starting to worry if their job is secure. and here i thought there was a nursing shortage? and on top of that, my manager resigned today and let me tell ya, people got real emotional. makes me think '07 will be my final year at a place i almost call home.

what to do this weekend. my birthday is on tuesday, so i'm ready to celebrate.

a little more sure, a little more wise....and courageous.

it seems like this day has gone on forever, beginning with at 4:45am bike ride in the cold to the gym. geez i forgot how difficult it is to get up that early, and the only thing that got me going was seeing Salty McDadderton doing sit ups at that hour. who knew that he would change his workout to the early morning? that strut, that hair, that old restored mustang. Hot.

the all day meeting of the professional (single) nurse practice council afforded me time to read about the morning-after HIV pill. What? seems it can be bought at clubs in a "three-drug party pack" that includes ecstasy or crystal and viagra. how irresponsible is that? Oh let me ask dawson if he has heard of it....

i wonder if '07 will be the year for pick up lines involving the topic of dental health? after all, teeth are one of the first things you see on a person, unless of course you are on the dancefloor of the Heretic on a friday night in which case you may find yourself looking down. just ask johnbrown, for i swooned a certain hunky writer from Los Angeles in the middle of Symbology in Ptown. next thing you know, we were comparing gum lines in the mirror and sharing secret bleaching techniques. apparently, his twin was seen roaming the streets of NYC this week...

so i guess the fortune tellers right

so i have found myself single again. but it wasn't for a lack of trying. when Tim came over on saturday night, i could sense there was a lot on his mind. so we sat down and talked about life, relationships, and happiness. well, he talked and i listened mostly. and though i may not have fully understood what he was feeling, i do appreciate his honesty. sure, i am sad and disappointed. for it has been a very long time since i have felt this way about someone. but i would never want to preclude someone from finding happiness.

i have been told that i seem like a very happy person. and for the most part this is very true. People who know me would say that i am always smiling, often laughing, and rarely sad. i find happiness in the things in my life; my family, my friends,and my work. unfortunately, people tend to lose sight of what is in front of them and wait around for the next best thing. the next best car, the next best party, the next best restaurant. we tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. so i may not be rich or drive a fancy car. but would i give up the laughter, the smiles, and the good times with my friends? never. i find the following quote on happiness to be quite meaningful...

".... there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one. So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy." -unknown author

for they say that Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

thank you nurse Cleo.

and praying i don't doze, until my 9 volt battery goes...

well my first week of 2007 has been real. real healthy. real active. real sober. yep, not a single drink of alcohol since nye. excellent workouts, turkey burgers, grilled vegetables...all the healthy habits that could change by next week, but i am not complaining. so tonight, i digress. looks like i may venture out for a drink or 4 but i deserve it.

but i wasn't thrilled when my dermatologist told me today that i have very "Rosacea Prone Skin". Speaking of unattractive. So is rosacea.

too broke to fix said daddy get your gun

and i thought this short week was flying by until today. a slow morning at work left me deep in thought, which continued into the late afternoon. then the paulding county emergency thought to be having a heart attack actually turned out to have this. who knew a broken heart could cause a heart attack. and guess who diagnosed it on the spot? even further support for me moving forward with a career change.

so with the new year comes new gym memberships and of course new music. jody wisternoff, my current obsession and one half of the progressive house group way out west, has been releasing his mixes for download over the past few months. the second track on his december mix i predict is going to be huge. It's by another well known house group called Faithless. their last album hasn't received the best reviews, but the next track set to be released is called "Music Matters". It features the stunning vocals of Cass Fox and the spoken word of Maxi Jazz, and british rapper and lead vocalist of Faithless. and finally, this beautiful remix that gives me chills every time is remixed by Pete Heller, most well known for the Classic House track "Big Love". due out later this year, you can hear a sample here. just scroll to the media section.

for all those for whom music was a message

I hate to say it, but i am glad the holidays are over. there is something so hectic and stressful about the month of december with holiday parties, last minute christmas shopping, and all the new years eve rigamarole, that it sometimes becomes a blur. maybe that is just a function of me getting older, as clearly time seems to go by quicker every day. now i just have to make it through the middle of the month when i turn 31. yikes.

so far, 2007 has been real good to me. i spent the better part of the yesterday with a cute boy in the park. talk about beautiful weather.... and i found out today that one of my close friends has been promoted to president of the Condo Store. congratulations brad!

sure i have a few resolutions for the new year, don't we all? but mine starts with less time with diane, we are on a break.