Moonlight Hike - Los Angeles Hiking Group

Meetup.com unites strangers with common interests.  I recently went on the "TGIF Full Moon Night Hike...Griffith Park" which was a level 5 hike that resulted in a picnic on top and a glorious full moon.  I found a picture of us on the event page!

The group was very diverse, but we didn't make any friends that day.  We met at Griffith Park by the Merry Go Round  and started our 1.5 hour journey.

It was already getting magical.

The moon was visible so we took a quick shot.  Jimmy is a sweaty man.

The sun setting.  Now you can see the Hollywood sign.

Day and Night

We added our own moonlight using our iPhone flashlights.

Our new friend wished us a good night.

Bay Area - Catching Up

In mid July I took a pretty good bay trip to visit family and work.

I drove up with my cousin and visited my family.  Enjoy San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose.  The mexican joint there is terrible.

I reached out to San Jose friends and discovered a Night Market.  After having a large chicken cutlet, Japanese Hotdog and pork fries - really nothing special. They had ping pong!  

And then I found myself at the San Jose Obon Festival.  Finally participating in the dance and playing bingo!  The highlight was this nickel game.

I spent the next day catching up with Aaron while he got his picture taken for the NoH8 campaign.  We chilled in Hayes Valley which is my new favorite SF neighborhood.

Got dropped off in the Castro to congratulate Jon on his triathlon. 

Had a really good dinner with Joe at Perilla in Inner Sunset.  Really impressed with this place.

The main purpose of the trip was to take personality tests to strengthen our team at work.  The middle picture is the financial-like SF office that I felt was really dreary.  The bottom is the corporate office near Palo Alto.

Check out what this personality test had to say about me.  Wow.  I'm always impressed with this sort of stuff.  I'm a gold blue which means that I like making notes and creating lists and staying organized along with being a people person to put it simply.

That's all I remember from the trip, but I had a good time catching up.

Work Activities

Who am I to complain about work?

My stress level has been a bit high because I cover more accounts than I should slash want to.  And with that, more things slip through the cracks.  I'm not at my best and I hate that feeling.  I also made a small mistake by being too proactive over the weekend that cost me a little of my pay.  UGH UGH UGH. I used to work until 6PM and then work out to beat traffic.  But for the past two months I've just been working through the the allotted time and physical fitness motivation is thrown out the window.  I've essentially gained back the weight that I lost this year. 

But... I love it.  I love my coworkers and activities. They've become my friends and people who essentially care about each other... to an extent of course.  They're the straight friends that I've lost when I devoted all my time making gay friends because they "understood me better."  Straight friends that are comfortable around me and make me feel special because I'm the gay one in the group.  Straight friends that ask about my boyfriend and other personal questions that most people keep separate from work.  It's quite nice to find a home at a place you spend most of your time.

K1 Racing

I drive like your grandmother.  The case is proven when the workers at this racing venue held up "let them pass" sign when I drove by because I was blocking traffic.... just like real life!  Sorry I'm not flooring it.

I am the first place loser.  Though maybe that's best because someone got their hand crushed at a sharp corner.  The electric powered carts are dangerous at high speeds.

Del Mar Racing

I took a party bus to bet on horse races in San Diego.  Learned that you can win a lot by just picking the right horses to win, place etc. etc.  Someone won $200 after putting in $4.  I was more concentrated on the outfits.  Big floppy hats and mint juleps.  I'm glad I was able to make use of my $1.50 bow tie I got from Daiso.

My strategy for betting?  The gayest name like Glitter Ball and Galatic Spinner.... of course this wasn't the best strategy.  I quit after losing $4.  And they're off!

Postal Service Concert at The Greek LA

I never really enjoyed concerts, but got a chance to give it another shot with my coworkers during a team outing.  Pit tickets!?!  I reminded my boss that we were both quickly approaching 30 and needed seats.  But to my delight, being really close to the artist singing nostalgic songs is quite amazing.  I've been doing it wrong this entire time buying nose bleed seats - I might as well have watched the concert on TV.

And the 4 large beers helped as well. 

"...that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss, they're perfectly aligned."

It was magical.  

We got dirty dogs, street meat, bacon wrapped hotdogs in Echo Park.  My boss regretted that in the morning... I however felt satisfied.  Nothing like a midnight treat.

Gay Marriage - Shit Got Real

My friend told me that while he was having dinner with his family his auntie who is very outspoken said, "So... when are you getting married!?"

He responded with nervous laughter.  His mom shifted in her seat, his brother looked away.

It seems that things have become a bit confusing now that gay marriage is legal in California.  Simply put - gays can now be held to the same marriage pressures as straights and this is causing anxiety.

My coworker told me that her gay friends are getting married as well as breaking up.  "You mean... it's legal now?  Like... we're held together by legal documents and lawyers and shared property?  Fuckkk."

A good chunk of the gay community has accepted the fact that they couldn't get married and have created a life style based around that concept - open relationships, endless shirtless parties.  Without "the right to marriage" gays have instead found themselves taking pride in "the right to party and feel sexy forever..."  We are the lost boys of Neverland in costumes smoking with Native Americans and swimming with mermaids without sleep or responsibility while the rest of London slaves away with their social norms.

But now our parents and family members can ask us questions that we never thought we would hear.  "You're getting old now... when do you think you will settle down."

Settle down?!

For the past 3 years I have been observing my straight friends getting married through facebook.  "Good luck with that."  Get those eggs while they are still fresh.  I also watched some get divorced... I guess they weren't "the one" after all.  Someone owes me $20.  I observed single straight people freaking out about their biological clock and rushing to match.com and other dating sites to help find that person that they were meant to be with... forever. While gays continue to rush to Grindr... to find "the one" as well... the one for this evening that is.

When gay marriage was legalized, my friends celebrated by going to WeHo... to drink.  How else do you celebrate... important things like equality? I recently saw an ad in a gay magazine, "Find your husband at the Hollywood Spa."  Yes, new ways to advertise gay activities.

So I didn't think anything really changed.  The idea of getting married was still foreign... and my previous post about marriage was still a joke...

Then I saw this in my facebook feed:

Marriage proposal at SF Gay Pride.  6 years together.

FUCK


And this:

Destination Iceland Wedding.

DOUBLE FUCK.


SHIT GOT REAL.  SHIT GOT REALLY REAL.

I guess equality means getting the same rights as well as the same pressures as everyone else.  I just never thought this day would come.

Palm Springs

I definitely appreciate it when others plan a trip and invite me along.  I've never really took a vacation in Palm Springs, but now I see why it’s so enjoyable.  Why would anyone have a good time in the desert?  It was a nice calm retreat the involved BBQ, pools, drinking and just being silly in an amazing house.  We got the AirBnB hook up.

When we arrived, we screamed like One Direction fans.  The house is beautiful.

That night we went gay clubbing at Hunters.  There was a underwear contest which was composed of very sad looking individuals, meth addicts and folks in their late 60s. One point of the night this older man commented on how excited he was that there was a group of Asians around him.  Since we were 3 rounds in, JLo approached him to say that he was being inappropriate.  To this he responded, “I can’t help it that you’re so beautiful.”  Wow.

JLo - is really delicate though

I was really frustrated with my camera that night, everything was in Macro, but I got some very interesting shots!

We paraded down the streets without our shirts because we were in the desert.  Life was good at that moment.

Jimmy had a vision to reenact the Chanel Spring/Summer 2013 fashion shoot.  We had a good time with this one.

MORE, YOU WONT REGRET THIS!!

http://chungkingexpressions.blogspot.com/2013/07/321-springsummer-2013.html

Fourth of July was festive with sparklers and patriotic accessories.  We were too far to see fireworks, but drunk enough to see our own stars.

We had one more day.  We were so close to going to the desert zoo, but thankfully we found Soak City.  It felt pretty local as in very small.  

This was probably one of my favorite summer moments.  Especially since the boys kept on cooking!!

 And Karaoke-ing

...and joking.

And relaxing.

June Recap

I'm writing a June recap 6 months after it happened.  Sad face, but there were three fun events worth mentioning and remembering.

PRIDE 

I never really celebrated pride.  In the past, I would just go to SF and find the Asian corner and say hi to friends and party in the evening.  A lot of people participate in day drinking, but I never really thought to.  This year I just enjoyed a Filipino breakfast at Manila Sunset and decided to hit up the Barnsdell park.  We noticed large groups of women... surprise it's Dyke Day!  We joined in by trying out some double dutch and saying hi to our lovely hot lesbian friend Cindy.  In the evening we let loose and did a little booty shaking with this random shirtless guy... so.. Happy Pride.


Andrew BBQ

Andrew's family lives in the Larchmont area.  When they go out of town, Andrew offers their place for a BBQ.  What do we do during these BBQs?

Karaoke, Cards Against Humanity, Youtube and a R&B Piano Jam session

 I caught David posting a ridiculous Selfie on instagram so I decided to make fun of him.  Got Charles involved too!

HAIRSPRAY DANCE ALONG

Grand Park released a summer schedule.  I jumped on the Hairspray dancealong event which encouraged pinic-ers to learn the dance moves to do along with the movie that was being projected.

I made a facebook event and got really into it.  My friends humored me.

Looks like Charles is over it.  Everyone do the Tail Feather!!

It was a lovely LA Summer Evening.

I told my coworkers who live in Santa Monica about Grand Park and they responded in disgust you mean the one with all the bums?  Yes.. that's the one... now stay west of the 405 where you belong.  DTLA in mine.