I've been trying to get to Din Tai Fung with Lexi & Rita for over a year now, and we finally made it.  We ordered way too much, but the leftovers are always great!  I just wish it was closer!

Watching the dumpling makers

Keeping with the food theme, here's Chazz staring up at my dinner the other night with his laser eyes:

The sunsets seem to be getting prettier each night, and they look so good with Chazz in the foreground:  It's been in the high 70's (25°) all week here and we've had some spectacular colors in the sky!

Sunset on Sunset (Blvd.)

Looking west on Sunset Blvd. at the top of my street

The kids went to Disneyland today for Dar's retirement party and Andy fell asleep in the car on the way home and never woke up:

Chazz standing guard

Tommy and Mommy did homework, while Joel went for Chinese takeout and the dogs played:

Learning multiplication

I cropped out the bunny ears, LOL


Chazz & Oreo II

Best of the rest...including an encounter with fashionista Bobby Trendy (thus the drag queen in the title, though as you'll see in the photos, he was dressed way down...not in his usual glam!) a visit with Roscoe & Arielle and yet more sunsets, dogs and kids (but I'll spare you the Sarah Palin this time!)

And finally, it's nice to know when your words inspire someone.  This was a great way to start the new year.  I'm glad I was able to help you Kevin.  Keep up the good work!

After ringing in the New Year in grand style, we took the weekend to relax a bit.  Home Depot has this great kid's workshop the first Saturday of every month, so Cathy & I took Patrick.  I wasn't much help building, but as always I took the photos.  The sunset was spectacular on Saturday and on Sunday I drove the six hours home to get here in time for Ryan's birthday party.  Lorenzo & Adam flew in from DC, and we all celebrated at Palms Thai.  I'm currently curled up on the couch with Chazz, eating popcorn and relaxing for the first time since before Christmas.  Here are some of my favorite photos and two videos from the past few days.  Have a great week everyone!  Happy New Year.

Patrick in his living room

The first sunset of 2010

He didn't get his nailing ability from Uncle Carey

The Home Depot Kid's Workshop is a great program, and it's free!

Such a good builder!

No caption necessary!

4 against 1!  No fair!

Joaquin feeding me kiwi

We celebrated New Year's first with the kids at 8:23, because we forgot to at 8:00.  They didn't know the difference!

Except the dog and my weight!

A rare quiet moment

I like this photo

Playing football in the back yard.  He's getting better as this old video attests!

Yesterday during breakfast, a pod of dolphins swam by to say goodbye!


Wes & Owen

Near Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco


See more from today with the boys, by clicking here.

Best of the rest...

What I woke up to on New Year's Day

The first sunset of 2010...starring Patrick & Carey

1/1/10 3:42 AM - Another Update:  The party's over...I'm the last one up (as I don't drink)!  All is quiet on New Year's Day.  The photos are all in the slideshow below, or click the collage.  Oh, and I thought this whole exchange on Facebook was pretty funny:

Click for slideshow or view below...Happy 2010!

New Year's Day - U2

12/31/09 2:10 PM - Update:  Here's the slideshow of photos so far.  Our guests will start arriving at 5 and I'll be adding pictures as time permits.  Happy New Year!!

12/31/09 1:47 AM - I'm finally over the Great Christmas Flu Massacre (the count is up to 10 and still climbing!) and today I drove the 390 miles to Tom & Cathy's house in paradise.  The drive was actually quite pleasant.  No one lit their underwear on fire and I listened to "Fresh Air" and "This American Life" podcasts the whole way.  I took these photos with my cell phone while driving (sorry for the quality) and posted them to Facebook and Twitter along the way (yes, I can do all that and still drive safely.  But when you text me to tell me to pay attention to the road, it's more distracting!  LOL).  I only stopped once for gas and the trip took just over 6 hours. 

The last photo is driving over the Bay Bridge in San Francisco

Little Patrick was waiting for me at the door.  I hadn't seen him since July in Germany, and he's growing like a weed.  We ate meatballs and read books before putting him to bed!

Best buddies!

This is our 13th annual New Year's gathering of the GLY Gang.  It's hard to believe our far flung group of friends started this tradition in Brazil in 1997, and we have celebrated New Year's together all over the world ever since.  As our GLY family continues to grow with marriages and babies, I'm thankful for such wonderful friends.  We're especially thinking of Bine this year and sending her all of our love!

10 years ago, we were all in Mexico.  It was 1999 and the world was waiting to see what would happen at the strike of midnight in the Year 2000.  Many of you are probably too young to remember the dread surrounding Y2K, but 10 years ago, none of us knew if the world would continue to function.  Here's a (non digital) photo of our group from that year:

So much has changed since then.  In 1999 I didn't even own a digital camera.  I had just gotten my first cell phone the year before.  The word "blog" was only 6 months old!  Bill Clinton was president, and George W Bush was still a whole year away from stealing the presidency of the United States.  I wonder how different the world would be today had he never become president?  I doubt we would be worried about underwear bombs!  (By the way, if Rush Limbaugh dies today, I hope someone demands to see the death certificate!  What a tool.)

In the next few days I'll be posting photos of our celebration here.  Until then, here's a slideshow and video to give you an idea of where I'm writing from.  The waves are crashing up into the back yard 20 feet from where I sit right now.  This is the view I will wake up to in the morning!  Happy New Year!

Well, boys will be boys, and this afternoon while 5 year old Andy was running around playing with all of his cousins, he slipped and hit his forehead on the edge of a chair.  It was a pretty deep cut, but luckily very straight.  He took his 10 stitches like a trooper, and was back home in time for a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner with pasta, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and lots of other delicious food.  After the gift exchange, we headed back to Dar's to await the kids in the morning for even more presents.  As soon as we got home, Grandma got very sick to her stomach and was throwing up for an hour.  (No, she didn't get run over by a reindeer!)  So, back to the emergency room!  I wonder if they have a 2 for 1 special?  She's currently on an IV now to help with her nausea and replenish her fluids.  Still waiting for a doctor.  It's going to be a long night!  Merry Christmas everyone!

UPDATE:  Grandma was released from the hospital late on Christmas Day.  I drove her to Dar's house so she could open her presents and see the kids, and then drove her back home for some much needed rest in her own bed.  She's still weak, but on the mend.  Thanks to everyone for their concern!  She must be feeling a little better, because when she heard my poem she rolled her eyes and gave me the raised eyebrow!

UPDATE II:  I have come down with the stomach flu, as have 8 of my cousins.  We've all been puking our guts out the past two days.  It truly was the gift that kept on giving this Christmas.  I hope to be all better by Wednesday when I head up to Pacifica for our annual GLY NYE. 

What a brave little guy he was!

I always marvel at the Hollywood sign on a clear day.  Even though it took me 2 1/2 hours to drive the 60 miles to my cousin's house, I listened to Christmas Carols and was in a good mood.

I took this from my sunroof going 70 mph down the 5 freeway.  This is just past Disneyland.

As I pulled onto Jennifer's street, this is what I saw

Kenny, Tressa and Tommy

No Italian Christmas is complete without pasta and meatballs!

Before Grandma got sick :(

The kid's table!

Apparently he didn't get his two front teeth for Christmas...but he does look like Harry Potter now!

T'was the night before Christmas...

Buster, the one eyed horndog and Roxy...waiting for Santa

Best of the rest...

Darcy The Dragon - Roger Whitt...

"It's called smokism.  The systematic oppression of a minority, simply because they were born smokers."  --Stephen Colbert.  Watch, and laugh at the absurdity.  (Click here for an equally funny bonus clip from 1999)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Civil Lights
www.thedailyshow.com

The city I live in, West Hollywood, California, is considering a ban on smoking at outdoor patios in restaurants and bars.  It's already illegal to smoke inside any business in California, and it's becoming the norm in most of the world.  I recognize that my views on this subject may be considered a bit radical and ostensibly selfish.  Some of my best friends (hi Hugo), disagree with me on this subject.  I maintain my position however, as is stated in these Facebook exchanges with fellow Xangan, David.  This all stemmed from a quote by city council member John Duran:

“People who want to avoid second-hand smoke already have a place to eat, inside the restaurant. So will this stop people from smoking? Or just keep smokers and their friends from coming to West Hollywood?” West Hollywood Council Member John Duran

 

If you saw (if not you should), the movie "Thank Your For Smoking" you know how downright criminal the tobacco industry is.  If you read the New York Times article about tobacco companies actually increasing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to make people more addicted; then you know how desperate they are.

Drinking is not a crime.  But if you drink and drive and end up hurting or killing someone you go to jail.  Being overweight is not a crime.  You won't end up hurting or killing someone if you're overweight, except yourself.  Smoking is not a crime.  Yet every smoker who smokes in public runs the risk of hurting or killing someone through secondhand smoke.  And let's not forget about third hand smoke.

My mother has always smoked.  She smoked in our house the whole time I lived there, despite me being very asthmatic.  The older I've gotten, the more allergic I have become to smoke and the more I've resented smokers.  If I even get a whiff of it in a hallway or elevator, I feel my lungs begin to tighten.  That's how bad it is.  Perhaps some of it's in my head, but who cares?  I have a physical reaction to smoke.

I understand that tobacco is one of the hardest addictions to curb.  I understand that tobacco lobbyists are still huge political contributors.  I understand that most smokers want to quit.  But the more I have to walk past a building where people are huddled around smoking, the more I begin to hate smokers.  I shouldn't hate smokers, I should hate smoking.  I know that.  But I'm beginning to hate smokers, and that's really sad.  It's going to be something I have to deal with, because I know, like any addiction, people won't quit until they want to, and I don't want to hate every smoker I know.

If you were a smoker, smoking in a public place, and I walked past you fanning my hand in front of my face with a disgusted look; would you be angry at me? Offended? Would you think I was an asshole?  What about if we were both at a restaurant sitting outside where smoking was allowed.  How would you react if  I came over to your table and politely told you that the wind was blowing your smoke towards me and that I'm allergic to smoke and it was really bothering me?  Would you be angry? Offended? Would you think I was an asshole?   

Here's a picture I snapped a couple of years ago at a stop light. 
This repulsive beast was actually smoking, while driving, while talking on her phone with her foot out the window!! 
When I snapped the photo she gave me a truly evil glare.  When the light turned green, she put the hand with the cigarette on the wheel and sped away.  Classy.

I'm writing about this because I'm literally at my wit's end.  It's getting to the point where I hate going out to public places that allow smoking.  Here in LA, all of the malls are outdoors.  On a Saturday afternoon it's like being in a wildfire in the Hollywood Hills!  So, back to the the title of this post.  Is smoking outdoors a civil right?  As defined by Wikipedia civil rights or liberties are:

...the name given to freedoms that completely protect the individual from government. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it can not abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens. See also civil rights and human rights.

So, is smoking a civil liberty?  Please weigh in. I'm going to go get my inhaler.

P.S. Here are some photos I took from my roof of the sunset tonight.  All the smoke in the air sure made it pretty! LOL.

My lens had a smudge on it!

Even though I don't believe in God, I'm inclined to agree with the postulate that everyone likes presents, Santa, peace on earth and all the things that come with Christmas and the holiday season.  I mean, what's not to like?  My office Christmas party was today and we had a Secret Santa gift exchange.  The person whose name I drew, is an staunch Orange County Republican who thinks Sarah Palin is "hot". 

As a gag gift, I gave him the book "Going Rouge - An American Nightmare" which is the bitingly real expose of the most dangerous woman on the planet, Sarah Palin.  (I also gave him a real gift, and the gift receipt to exchange the book for something he really wanted!)  The person who drew my name in the gift exchange had a similar idea, and gave me the book, "Going Rogue", the fictional work of a delusional demagogue by Pontius Palin - The Bobbleheaded Beauty Queen herself.  Delicious irony, right?  In a way, the gifts canceled each other out.  Ah, the magic of Christmas!

Good vs. Evil

Wonderful Christmastime - Paul...

Magic aside, Christmas in California is a lot different than Christmas in Chicago where I grew up.  I don't have a whole lot of very fond childhood memories, aside from those spent with my aunt, but Christmas was usually pretty nice:

Me, my Dad & Mom in happier times and my brother, circa 1970

My brother (L) and me, circa 1969.  I was 4, and stylin!

Fast forward 40 years to the warm weather of California and Christmastime with my family here:

 

 

And of course, Christmas in Hollywood at The Hotel Careyfornia and surroundings:

Ryan, in lights

Never fails!

At least the homophobic Mormons put on a good light show!

Christmas lights at the bottom of my street, Santa Monica Blvd.

A homeless Santa on Sunset Blvd.  This picture cost me $5, so I hope you like it!

Best of the rest...

One of my favorite Christmas songs

It was a busy weekend at The Hotel Careyfornia.  Since Ryan and Chazz are out of town, Claudio and I decided to spend some "quality time" together.  It rained all day Saturday though, and the traffic was a nightmare.  No one knows what to do in L.A. when it rains, as witnessed by this truck that got stuck in my driveway yesterday morning.  So we just ordered Chinese food and watched movies all night.  It was nice.  Today was beautiful, and after an alleged Lady Gaga sighting, we walked to Tender Greens for lunch and then I drove down to my aunt's for our pre-Christmas spaghetti dinner.  'Tis the season!

Lunch on Santa Monica Blvd.

I sent this to Wendy Williams, as she likes pink Christmas trees.  Maybe she'll show it on TV tomorrow?

Bah Humbug!  The patented Claudio sneer

Ho Ho Ho

Get your kicks, on Route 66

Sunset from my sunroof...I took this going down the 101 highway at 65 mph (104 kmh)

Another shot from my sunroof while driving

 
Favorite cousins!

 
Great Grandma made her famous spaghetti

Look familiar?

Our first Christmas without Grandpa

Tressa also wants her front teeth from Santa this year

Bad Andy - Don't imitate Sarah Palin!

Cody & Andy

 
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Best of the rest...

Darcy The Dragon - Roger Whitt...

Tony (generasianx) was nice enough to give me two tickets for what he (and I) thought was just a special screening of the movie "Nine" starring Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day Lewis, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Judy Dench, Fergie and Marion Cotillard. 

We go to free screenings all the time here in Hollywood.  Sometimes there are celebrity panelists, like when Tony, Albert and I met Dakota Fanning, or a few weeks ago with Bine at the LA Film School. 

I thought tonight would just be another screening with a few celebrities showing up, but when Mica and I got there we soon found out it was the movie's premiere, and we walked the red carpet with the A Listers (despite my hooded sweatshirt!) LOL.  Thanks Tony!  I owe you lunch on Friday!

Mica and I with two of the hottest tickets in town.  The movie opens everywhere, Christmas Day.

Hanging out on the red carpet

And soda!

My Hero, Hiro!


Penelope Cruz was rushing out the door when I asked for this photo.
She stopped just long enough for me to barely get my eye in the frame.

Nicole Kidman with her sister (I think).

She had style, she had flair, she was there, that's how she became "The Nanny's" Mom, Renae Taylor!

All the single (gay) boys will probably go Lady Gaga over this one.  It's me and one of the twins from Desperate Housewives, LOL   His name is Charles Carver.

 
Jeremy Piven from Entourage, wasn't too fond of me taking his picture!  Meanwhile Penelope Cruz made a fast exit.

Alex Rodriguez?

Me with the incomparable Taye Diggs and his wife Idina Menzel (who just landed a recurring role on Glee), who I first met in 1996 outside the Nederlander Theater in New York City after a performance of "Rent". Oddly enough, they didn't remember me!

Best of the rest...

Ti Voglio Bene/Be Italian - Ch...

The movie was breathtaking.  Such a beautiful film!! 
The music, the performances, the cinematography were all magnifico!  Take a look:

My mortgage was sold to Chase Bank last month.  This month I got this email notification that my payment had been made:

Carey Anthony

From: Chase Manhattan	Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 6:44 PM
To: Carey
For your account ending in 0950: Thank you for your recent payment of ($ USD) 46,008.02. This Alert was sent according to your settings.

Excuse me!!!???  I mean, I know The Hotel Careyfornia is one of the finest boutique luxury hotels in Southern California, but if my mortgage payment is $46,008.02 per month, I'm going to need to raise our room rates!!

A day later, they sent this message.  Not a great way to start a business relationship Chase!!  FIGURE IT OUT!!  You wouldn't like me when I'm angry!

Dear Valued Customer: We're writing to let you know you received an Account Alert on 12/06/09 that contained inaccurate information about your mortgage payment. Please disregard the Alert, and accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience it may have caused. If you have any questions about this message or your mortgage account, feel free to call us at 1-800-848-9136. Our service representatives are available to help you Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 9 PM Eastern time, and on Saturday from 8 AM to 5 PM Eastern time. Thank you for your business. We look forward to continuing to serve you. Sincerely, Alexander Krantz Senior Vice President Customer Care

Speaking of Chase, people in West Hollywood were chasing rainbows yesterday all over town (how cliche, in a gay city)!  This one was snapped from my rooftop and it ended right at Ryan Seacrest's office on Sunset Blvd..  Damn that Seacrest.  Does he really need more gold?

Rainbow Veins - Owl City

It doesn't storm very often here in Southern California, but when it does, I head to my roof to take photos as the sky is usually beautiful. The first 13 photos in this video and are all from last night between 4:30 and 5 PM. The rest are from other storms we've had the past two years.

Chasing Rainbows - No Use For ...

The rain made for some beautiful skies for Chazz to pose against.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

Tonight, Seth and his band played a set at Crane's Tavern in Hollywood:

The Rainbow Connection - Jason...

3 years ago today I started my humble little blog.  In that time, I've written 641 entries and have devoted this space mainly to my photos and random musings.  Blogs are like clothes.  Sometimes you look back at them and wonder "What was I thinking!!??"

Future Xangan

Some people have suggested that I rename my blog:

"Kids, Dogs, Sunsets & Sarah Palin" 
and the occasional rant against corporate America

When I look at my most common "tags", this rings somewhat true: 

Tommy and Andy seem to be most popular.  Followed by Chazz and other family members!  American Idol is pretty highly ranked too, as tend to run into Idols all over Hollywood!

Speaking of Chazz & sunsets, I just took this photo in the front yard:

Chazz looks good in red!

I took this picture an hour before the last one.  I like how it looks like he's shooting a laser beam from his eye!

Who's a good dog?

I went to 2 Christmas parties this week, and I have 2 more next week.  'Tis the season!

Aunty LuLu put up her tree before Thanksgiving!

At a work Christmas party on Thursday

I'll leave you with a final thought on this Xangaversary.  Are we doing enough to warn our kids about the dangers of getting stoked?