Update:  Just got back from Chicago and I hope to be back on Xanga this winter. In the meantime, friend/follow me on facebook, Twitter, Google + or  tumblr. Latest photos can always be found here. I’ve applied to be on the Xanga Product Council, so if that happens maybe some of my ideas will be implemented. Thanks! –Carey

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June 13, 2011 6:37 PM
I’m sorry I’ve been so neglectful of my humble Xanga. Each time I would think of updating, it just seemed to be too much to fit in one post; but of course the less I update, the more things kept happening. For the past month, every time I wanted to blog about Sarah Palin or Armageddon (or the lack thereof) or the Dream Act or Xangan visits or road trips or reconnecting with old friends or birthday parties or frat parties or Rio or Chazz or celebrity sightings or customer service or red carpet events or holidays or fill in the ______; it seemed that it was easier and faster to just upload photos to Facebook with brief captions or write a short Tumblr (I know…traitor!) post or tweet a photo or two. That’s the thing about Xanga that I’m conflicted about. I don’t want it to ever be Tumblr or Facebook, but I wish it was a little more adaptive to the times…so my blog here could evolve and not just languish. (Xanga’s new sign in options for comments should help!)  Oh well, I’m still a proud Xangan…even if lately I’ve only had time for proper updates once a month. In the meantime, here’s what’s been happening the past few weeks:

That’s it for now. For more frequent updates, friend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or Tumblr. Have a great summer everyone!

The following, appeared in the Washington Post last week:

I checked, and I have written 39 posts about Wicked Witch of Wasilla, since that fateful morning of August 29, 2008, a day we wish we could all forget. So today, I declare a:

So starting tomorrow, no posts about the Queen of Darkness. Like Mika Brzezinski, I will not give her the publicity she so craves:

“Southern California began 2011 with a traffic jam for the record books, as a powerful snowstorm stranded and stymied thousands trying to get between Northern and Southern California at the end of a long holiday weekend.  Some motorists said drives that normally took four hours lasted 12 hours or longer as they inched through blinding snow, gridlocked roads and slippery black ice as well as a succession of accidents and stalled cars…“  So said the LA Times today, and they were right.  After a wonderful week in Madera ringing in the New Year with GLY’er Eva and her wonderful family, my trip home was anything but uneventful, due to that snow storm in the mountains.  In the 11 hours it took me to get home, I saw rain, hail, snow, black ice, freezing fog, a rainbow and a most beautiful sunset.  Take a look:

I have mixed emotions about the events of this past weekend.  As most people know by now, the draconian ban on homosexuality in the United States military has been repealed.  Tomorrow President Obama will sign the repeal, paving the way for the inevitable Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8 and gay marriage finally becoming the law of the land.  That’s all great news.  But on Saturday, as my friends and I stood in line at a movie theater and heard the buzz of cell phones and twitter feeds announcing the DADT repeal, I actually felt guilty about another far reaching piece of legislation that didn’t pass.  The DREAM Act “would have created a path to citizenship for certain young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children, completed two years of college or military service and met other requirements, including passing a criminal background check.”  “Two Dreams, One Dead“, as Time magazine opined.  That dream is dead, at least for now.  But I for one am glad to know people like David Cho, whose tireless efforts on behalf of the DREAM Act have raised awareness worldwide, and caused him to be named one of the Top Ten Game Changers in education today (along with heavyweights like Michelle Rhee and Jill Biden)!  People like David Cho are the leaders of tomorrow.  Just watch:

He is American in every way, but on paper.  The arguments against the DREAM Act are nothing but shameful propaganda spread by ignorant neophytes like Sarah Palin.  I urge every American to educate themselves about this important legislation.  David can take solace in Dan Choi’s struggle to repeal DADT.  Don’t be disillusioned by this temporary setback. 

The DREAM Act is the right thing to do!  I’m glad there are people like David Cho and Dan Choi who fight tirelessly for what’s right, to make this country a better place for all of us.  Keep up the good fight gentlemen!

Dinner with David is always a treat. He’s such a bright light in this world. I can’t say enough about this guy!

Hanging out in MacArthur Park and having Korean food with David

In other news, my friend Sabine made her 5th trip to The Hotel Careyfornia in the past year.  Eva joined us and we had a pre New Year’s GLY reunion.  Luci & Mateus are also here from Brazil and Tim flew in from Switzerland.  I’ve lost track of how many trips to the airport I’ve taken in the past 72 hours.  Lots of fun and very little sleep.  Ho Ho Ho!  Here are the week’s photos:

Bine’s welcoming party and the first of many trips to the airport this weekend!

Sushi on a rainy night in LA

Platinum Guests of The Hotel Careyfornia

Breakfast at The Griddle

Claudio, Eva & Bine.  More photos here…

Claudio sneering at LAX before heading to Brazil

Bine and Eva proclaiming “The King’s Speech” the best movie of the year so far!

Even Spiderman tried to get out of the rain on Hollywood Blvd.


Christmas ice skating at the Spectrum.  More photos here…

Thanks to everyone who made my 45th birthday yesterday, so special.  The festivities actually started Thursday night when I had dinner with my family and then drove up to Oxnard to celebrate Claudio’s birthday.  This is our 20th year celebrating our birthdays together.  Last year I made him sit through the Rodger’s & Hammerstein retrospective at the Hollywood Bowl on my birthday.  This year, we celebrated in Santa Barbara on Friday and had a big Brazilian barbecue on Saturday.  The parties continued through yesterday, and I must say I am exhausted…and so is Chazz and his friend Blanca:

Really Sarah???

Exactly 20 years ago, one of my favorite bands Midnight Oil; played a half hour concert in front of the Exxon building in New York City:

And 40 years ago, the oil spill that spawned the modern environment movement, happened right here on the coast of Santa Barbara, where we visited this weekend.  As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald:

It took Santa Barbara decades to recover.  We may not be so lucky this time…and poor BP, just wants their old life back!  Suffice it to say if Sarah Palin ever becomes president, the number of disasters like this would increase ten fold.  Speaking of Santa Barbara, here are my photos from this weekend.

“Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenge — we overcame it. We did not avoid our responsibility — we embraced it. We did not fear our future — we shaped it.” President Barack Obama

We got home from Santa Barbara last night just as the President was finishing his remarks.  Though the debate rages on via my Facebook page (thanks to both the Davids); real reform is on its way.  After this vile display last week, it’s pretty clear that the Republicans and the racist teabaggers really thought this was all about welfare:

Anyway, we had a great weekend with very little sleep.  Bine and Lindsay arrived Friday night along with Carolina, Eva, Vonda, Nate, Bianca and Julia.   We had 9 people sleeping in my little condo, so it was similar to this.  Saturday we went to Claudio & Ryan’s for a Brazilian barbecue.  Sunday we spent a hazy day at the beach in Santa Barbara before dropping Marcelo off at the airport.  Two hours later, I got a text that there had been a small plane crash in Santa Barbara, and Marcelo was being shuttled to LAX.  So off to the airport again I went, and we had him for another night!  Everyone woke up at 5 this morning, and we were on our way back to the airport at 5:30 AM.  Next weekend, Bassam, Bine and I will head up to Tom & Cathy’s in San Francisco to see little Patrick and Youenn (who I haven’t seen since we traversed the Alps last summer!) and Mariana.  Should be another great weekend!  Here are this past weekend’s photos:

What a weekend!  Too bad it had to end, because today the Sarah Palin media blitz began. 
I’ll get to that waste  of brain matter in a minute, but here’s a quick recap of the weekend:

• Drove up to Santa Barbara…managed to avoid a speeding ticket despite a few close calls.
• Eva, Bine & I hung out with Rob & August all day Saturday; enjoying:
• Beach volleyball (I was the photographer).
• A beached sea lion that had been attacked by a Great White Shark (we were told).
• Swimming with dolphins….when Bine saw them she immediately ran into the water and swam to them, even getting bruised by a dorsal fin in the process.
• Another spectacular Santa Barbara sunset.
• A Filipino barbecue courtesy of grillmaster Rob, who has been a “friend in my head” for years and is now the real thing!
• I caught a cold Saturday night as the temperature in Eva’s house was about 20° cooler than I keep The Hotel Careyfornia.
• Claudio & Ryan found a Chocolate Lab on the street in Oxnard Saturday.  She and Chazz became best of friends.  We’re calling her “D” (for dog) for now, and searching for the owner, but it’s been 2 days.  Story developing…
• Claudio & Ryan drove up to Santa Barbara with aforementioned new dog and Chazz, and we had dinner on the beach to yet another breathtaking sunset
• Drove home and have been drinking lots of hot liquids.
• Tonight, Bine & I are going to go see the movie Precious.
• Tomorrow Carolina is coming for lunch and then Bine & I are going to The Jay Leno Show(we were supposed to go last week, but changed the tickets).  Tyra Banks will be the guest.

Here are my favorite photos from the past 2 days:

So yesterday, I’m walking down Santa Monica Blvd. with Heather & Brian’s son who’s 7 years old. While I’m holding his hand I reach into my pocket for my camera and discreetly take this photo while trying to distract him with conversation. I wasn’t sure if he had even noticed this person on the bike or that the “person” had a beard; but after we passed the bike, this wide eyed little boy looked up at me and said, “Well that was embarrassing!” I responded that yes, indeed it was. He asked why someone would dress like that. I told him that it was probably for attention. He asked “Why?”, to which I replied that the person on the bike probably didn’t have a mommy and daddy who paid a lot of attention to them, and that they probably liked to shock people to get attention. I told him he was lucky to have so many people in his life that love him. He looked up at me and said, “That makes sense.” (I didn’t tell him that the person has their own facebook page and Twitter feed and goes by “WeHo Tranny on a Bike”. I’ll wait until he’s 10 for that. More power to Tranny though. She says her calling is to spread joy and acceptance.

Recently my friend Doug sent me a link to this website:

Here at The Hotel Careyfornia, we pride ourselves on offering the finest accommodations of any fake luxury boutique hotel in Southern California.  This past weekend however, we were filled to capacity, and our guests had to resort to sleeping wherever they could find a spot. 

Of course there wasn’t much sleeping going on at all.  I don’t think I got more than 4 hours sleep since Friday, as these photos show: