Alright, so 40 days later, as my Dad pointed out, and here I am again. I fully intended to have more updates and I was in the midst of one when I was seriously hungover…but I get ahead of myself.
So in mid April, there were two weeks of going-aways and Team Dinners….all basically excuses to drink and eat, mostly on the company’s dime. Yay for Corporate America and NBC Universal! The first major going-away was Evan’s, and wow, was it a doozy. It started at 5pm at the Channel 4 Bar in Midtown/48th St, and about 7 hours later I was poured into a cab to go home. That fun, but ultimately punishing, night started the two week period of fun but it was also my warning to try to chill out when attending these little fiestas. Why, you ask? Well, because I was SO FUCKING hungover the next day, I could barely function. I actually did make it in to work the following morning (which was a Thursday – yeah, midweek drinking is all sorts of awesome) but by noon had to leave for home. Yes, I am the epitome of professionalism. The next week, there was an entire Team Dinner at a cool Korean Barbecue joint where you grill your own stuff in a mini-grill in the middle of the table. Of course, drank a lot, but I did vividly remember the previous week, so it wasn’t all that bad. Then that weekend we had a get-together at a coworker’s house in Jersey where I brought Larry with me and everyone now knows I’m gay at work. Which apparently wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone. I actually knew that because I was told by most everyone at the first drinking night that they all knew. So yay. We had a final Wednesday drinking night that next week to say goodbye to one more person from the team and again, I was mostly good. Slightly hungover that following Thursday morning, but I was able to man up and stay at work and function like a normal person. But damn, that first drinking night for Evan’s going-away….hoooo-leee shit. BTW, fuck you, shots of alcohol.
It’s been a hectic few weeks since then as we are working to expand our empire etc. I am still working with my boss on the move out west, which is still I think a 60/40% likelihood it’ll happen. I’m especially excited to go back now after my most recent trip back to Los Angeles and Las Vegas this past week!
Larry and I went back to Los Angeles for Harv’s birthday and Mother’s Day. It was great to get home as well as get put to work being IT Help Desk, but that’s what I’m good at so that’s what I’ll do. I picked my mom up a NetBook so she could play her slot machine video games downstairs and still remain social. When I got there I also configured their wireless network so now she can also surf the Internet there too. They finally got high-speed broadband at their house, about 10 years after everyone else in the country did. :-) I kid, I kid.
During the trip out there, Larry and I also did some side-trips. Met up with Sveta the first night on Friday and we went to the Stinking Rose and had garlicy goodness and garlicy horribleness in the form of Garlic Ice Cream. Blech. On Saturday some of the family came on up to visit, including Auntie Helen and Uncle Steve, Stister Stacie and Family, and Uncle Paul. Good times had by all! That night Larry & I headed down to Orange County and visited Mila, Scott and their newborn daughter, Ilona. Such a cute baby and it was fun to hang out with Mila again. On Sunday, Larry & I drove around some of the areas near the Universal Studios part of town as I wanted to show Larry areas that were potential places to look for apartments when we move back. First hit up Studio City, based on a recommendation from Sveta. I think we have a winner! It’s really close to both Universal City and Burbank, and has lots of cool things there. So not a bad choice. We also drove around Hollywood and Beverly Hills, stopped at the Grove for bathroom and food, then I finally made it back to UCLA! I’ve been meaning to get back and walk around my old stomping grounds again. It was a beautiful day for it. Lots of memories walking around there, but it makes me sad to think it was over 10 years ago now. WT Fuck. The next day on Monday, we got to meet up with Larry’s friend Greg, who lived out in Pacific Palisades. Insane house. Awesome family. Hopefully someone who could help Larry get in the movie business too.
Anyway, that was the LA portion of the trip! Then it was time to go to Las Vegas. Yay! It was a lot of fun – Benihana’s for Harv’s birthday, lots of blackjack (don’t ask Larry what to do though if you get a pair of 5s and the dealer shows a 6), amazing seats at Barry Manilow, meeting up with Michancy (miss fancypants lawyer now! she looks great), and lots of alcohol. Yay Vegas!
I obviously am getting tired of writing, so I’m wrapping it up. I have also put up most of my pictures in the Photos section so make sure to check them out. I’m back in New York now though, and it’s hard to get motivated again to get back into the swing of things. It really is. To make things better though, watch this fantastic Motown version of Single Ladies from YouTube: