I Found.....Funkeytown!!!

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There was a song back in the early 80's (for those of you who remember the early 80's) that everyone seemed to love, I know I did..it was called "Funkytown" and it was a really big hit. It was written by Lipps,Inc back in 1979 and through the years has been redone by several groups, none as good at Lipps, Inc.

Part of the lyrics say "Won't you take me to...Funkytown". and that phrase kept repeating through out the song..."Won't you take me to...Funkytown". Now I don't know about you, but every time I heard that song I wondered...where is Funkytown?, if I knew maybe I would want to go too!! Well wonder no more...cause quiet by accident...I found Funkeytown!! Yes Sirree!! It is right there on Sunset Avenue in Silverlake....so next time someone you know want to go to Funkytown....just drive them right on over...and who know, I just might be there to welcome you!

later!

Waking Up with LA

Something that I really enjoy doing is watching the City of LA wake up in the morning. Sounds crazy huh?

As most of you know I love scouting out places I have not been to in LA. I usually only get to do this on the weekend, but all during the week on my drives to and from work, I am always on the lookout for things I want to take pictures of and maybe learn more about. I have found the best time to come back and take pictures of things is very early in the morning, before people get to stirring about. Today was such a day. It seem since around Thanksgiving I have busy enough with doing 'stuff' that I have not had the chance to go on one of my picture taking excursions. There were a couple of things I really wanted to get pictures of before they vanished ( and believe things seem to vanish quickly sometimes around here!) So I got up early and headed out,actually I was leaving a little later than I had wanted to but the bed was oh so warm on this chilly morning if ya know what I mean. But I was up and out around 7:30 and I headed over to Sunset Blvd where there was a picture spray painted on the side of a building I wanted to get a picture of. Actually I see pictures like this all the time and they are always in little out of the way places and they are really small and most people do not even notice them. Pics like these you really have to get quick because they are usually painted over as they are considered graffiti. I was really afraid this one would be gone and to be honest I could not remember which building I had seen it on exactly. So off to Silverlake I went and to my delight, it was still there. Now to look at it you will probably wonder why I would want a picture of it, well I think the thing that excites me the most is that these are very temporary works of art and they are gone so quickly. It is things like this about LA that gets me excited. I look for things like this every day and in doing so it makes me really take in to account everything I see very day. How often on your drives to and from work do you really pay attention to what you pass by? I take the same route to and from work most everyday.
I drove this route for months not paying attention to what I was driving by, then one day on Melrose Ave I noticed this small black and white spray painted picture of
a mouse holding a sign, it was spray painted from a stencil most likely. I laughed when I noticed no one walking by it even seemed to see it. The next day when I drove by, it was gone, painted over. From then on I hooked. I started looking to see if there were others and from time to time I would see more. Since Patrick got me my little Canon camera year before last, I always carry it with me and when I can I stop and take pictures of the little masterpieces before they are gone. But this also got me to seeing details in allot of other things. You will really be amazed in what you see around you if you pay more attention to what you pass as you go to and from places.

But I learned early on in doing this, that by getting up really early and getting out, there aren't that many people out. Now mind you I am talking the weekend here.
But I love the early morning feel of driving around LA early in the morning and listening to the quiet hum of the city. And then as I am out taking my pictures or exploring a new street, I notice the City slowly starts to come alive. The sun gets a little higher and slowly I notice more people start stirring about and then slowly the street traffic picks up . The shops start to open up and before you know, you can hear all the normal noise of the City. I just love getting to experience this.

Have you every got to hear where you live wake up? Have you ever noticed how the world where you live starts to come alive and starts a new day? It is really an exciting thing to witness,I hope one day you will take the time to!

later

Happy 2010!! (a few days late)

Well here we are..aleady at the end of the first week of 2010...thankfull this week did not seem to totally fly by like they did in 2009...I want 2010 to hang around for a little while, I have things I want to do this year!!

Our New Year's eve was nice, we stayed home like we have for the last few years, we had the neice and newphew over and also our BFF Timmy. Patrick had to work a little later than usual but we still had enough time to eat and watch some TV before the big moment arrived. This is the time we usually exchange gifts with Timmy and this year was no different. We always have alot of fun doing it on New Years Eve, it is almost like having 2 Christmas's!! I have to say I am soooo excited with what
he got me this year. He got me a gift cerificate to Esotouric Bus Adventures!!!!!
I hear you saying WOW!!...what the hell is an Estouric Bus Adventure???
Well let me tell you!...It is a bus tour of different kind...and each on has to do wih something bout LA. Like the Black Dahlia Tour..which is about the unsolved 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, except this tour it follows her sad, solitary life in post war LA. They have many different tours, you really should to over to www.esotouric.com and when check them out. I first heard about them last year when I was attending the Downtown LA Art Walk and have really wanted to take one of them, so now I get too...and Timmy is coming along so I KNOW it will be fun.

Getting back into the regular routine at work after having 3 weeks of only working 3 days a week was a little rough, not only for me but everyone in our office, including the Docs! But we made it, my next scheduled Holiday is not until May, but I am sure I will sneak a day off in there somewhere, probably around my Birthday in March. One sad note for me at work is, my best buddy at work, Jill, gave her notice and will be leaving us this coming Tuesday. I will really miss her, she was working there when I started and besides helping train me, we because good friends too.
She even taught me how to ride the Bus here in LA one night after work!!! I still have my other buddy, Nancy, and I am sure the new person and I will get along fine, aleast one can hope!!

So here we are....starting off a whole new year and a hold new decade. Looking back over the last 10 years I am amazed at the life changing things that happened in my life...in 2000 I met Patrick (talk about life changing!!),in 2002 I left the desert after almost 16 yeard to move to LA to be with him, in 2004 we had our Wedding, in
2006 my Mom passed away, in 2007 I started what will most probably be the last job in my work career(they have made me promise to stay with them till I retire,at the age of 70). Also over these a past 10 years I have met some of the nicest people I have ever had the privelge of knowing and I have added so many members to my Chosen Family. I can't help but wonder what the next 10 years is holding in store!!

later

Man, that was quick!...

Wow,is it me or did Christmas seem to come and go really fast this year? Patrick and I said last year (2008) that this year we wanted to be able to enjoy the Christmas Season, since last year we were in a car accident right before Christmas and that really seem to take the fun out of it for us. So this year,somehow, we got a head start on it and were pretty much ahead of ourselves by the first of December, so we actually did get to enjoy it this year, but it all seemed to have gone by so fast!

Last weekend we started our Christmas celebration with 2 annual events we have done for several years. On Saturday evening we attended the Los Angles Gay Men's Chorus Christmas show. If you have never had taken the opportunity to see one of their shows, you are missing out on so much. They usually havwe 3 shows each Season (this year they only have 2). Each is different and the Christmas show is always our faviorite. If you think the show is only about 200 Gay Men singing songs, you are SO wrong. Of course this is singing..and dancing ...and skits to go along with some to the music,but I can garantee you will have a great time when you go.

The following afternoon we went to our other annual event, our annual Christmas Party with our Chosen Family that is held each year at the home of our really dear friends, Farah and Dan Silver. It really isn't Christmas for us until this event happens. One year I was really sick with a cold and could not go, and the Holidays really sucked for me that year. The friends we get together with here are what we call our Chosen Family. You can't help the family you are born into, but you can choose who makes up the group of friends who are the dearest to you, and that is just who these guys are. We all bring food and a white elephant gift. We sit around and eat and laugh and talk with each other and just really enjoy being together.
Sometimes we have a new person who comes with one of the regulars. This year Farah invited one of their friends and I can tell you, she really had a good time with all of us, she was fun to be around. She seemed to fit right in with this crazy bunch!!
We always have so much fun with the white elephant gift exchange, and this year as no different. We usually eat at least twice,lol and then we sit back and just enjoy each other's company. Everyone should be apart of a get together like this at Christmas, it's really a special time......

more later.....

Very Lucky Man Indeed...........

Tonight I had one of those moments when you just stop you in your tracks and realize how great life is for you.....ever had a moment like that?, I bet you have. My moment happened tonight while we were decorating the tree at Patrick's parents home, which right next door to ours. We moved Patrick's family into their house in December 2000, that year they only had a really small tree that Patrick already had, but starting in 2001, we have always had large trees that sit right in front of the big window in their living room. Each year it has been my job to put the lights on the tree and most times Patrick would help me decorate it. When we first started with the big trees the niece and nephew were 2 and 5 years old and they could only sit and watch us decorate the tree, but this year,I taught the nephew how to put the lights on the tree, and I think I may have lost my yearly job of light hanging!! He loved doing it and really did a good job. The niece is more of an ornament hanger, and she really got into it this year.

It was during this time that I was standing back and watching the Nephew having a really good time putting the lights on the tree that I had my moment....all the sudden it hit me what a very lucky man I am to be apart of these kids lives and have them be such an important part of mine. As most of you know, in my 20s I was married and we had two children, Daniel and Kelly, both of which are now in their early 30s. It has been 25 years since my divorce and throughout all of those years I have always tried to be apart of my kids lives,but a couple of years ago they decided they no longer wanted me to be part of their lives and I have not heard from either of them since. The did not actually tell me that, but through a series of events it was pretty clear to me, so I have respected their wishes and have just gone on with my life. I am sure part of it is that I am Gay,even though it has never been mentioned or discussed. I will not sit here and tell you that it was not painful, it was very painful, but when things like that happen in life, all you can do is go on with your life and let yourself heal, which is exactly what I have tried to do.

But tonight, it was a great feeling to realize what a great family I am apart of now, and how loved I am by these kids. When Patrick and I met, the Nephew was 5 and the Niece was 2, now they are 14 (almost 15) and 12, and as far as they are concerned, I am just Uncle Jaymes. Looking back over the last 9,almost 10 years that Patrick and I have been together, the kids have always been an important part of our lives. If you would have seen us out together over the years, you would probably thought they were our kids, some people have asked us that. We have taken them so many places with us, we have been Santa Clause for them all these years, been to all their school functions and I have even sat down with the Nephew and have, "The Talk", even though he got really embarrassed and pretty much knew all about it anyway. We have worked on all their school projects together and tutored them with their homework assignments when they are having problems.The Nephew loves to go to the beach with me or hiking.
One thing the kids and I have done for many years now is have "Library Night". I made sure they both had their own library cards when they were very young and they both love to read now, I am proud. It is fun for me when I am out with them somewhere and I get to meet some of their friends I have not met yet, when they introduce me as their Uncle Jaymes,I always get really funny looks from their friends since the kids are Chinese and I am very White!! But the Niece and Nephew don't seem to notice that. Recently when the Niece turned 12, she had several of her school friends over for a little party. When I came home several of her little girl friends came runny up saying "Uncle Jaymes is here" and gave me big hugs. We are sure they know Patrick and I are together, but it has never come up, and they just seem to accept it as being a normal thing. When Prop 8 was on the ballot last year, the Nephew shocked me at dinner one night by discussing with me why he thought Prop 8 was wrong and why he thought it was wrong for anyone to have their marriage voted on. Yes I was pretty speechless during the conversation.

Yes, it is funny how life turns out sometimes. Even though I don't have the
opportunity of being apart of my kids lives, I am very important to two other kids who I could not love any more even if they were my kids. And that is a pretty awesome thing!!

later

2001

2009

Still Alive And Kicking.....

Yes,believe it or not, I am still hanging out around here! I know it has been awhile since I have posted on regular basis and I am really sorry about that. As I have said before, sometimes life just gets in the way of what you had rather be doing.
But from here on out I should be posting on a pretty regular basis again, and I have alot to share with you about some of the different adventures that I have been having and haven't gotten to share with you yet. So please, just stay hang with me here!

There is one thing I do want to share with you, something that will make my posting on here alot easier. As you all know, last Friday was Black Friday and as usual was a shopping frenzied. I have only ventured out shopping on Black Friday one time, several years ago, and trust me, that was more than enough for this life time for me!!! Well,this past Friday, my dear husband got up at 4am to head out to Target,or at least that is where he told me he was going. He took the Nephew with him so he would not have to go alone. (The Nephew was actually REALLY excited about going with him, at least he was when the left, he sure had lost that excitement by the time they got back home later that day!!)

I called to check on them around 8am when I got up to see where and how they were doing. Well come to find out they had not even made it to Target yet, they went to Best Buy first and had been standing in line for almost 4 hours so he could get
a Net Book at a really low price, 4 hours!! Later in the day they got home, they both looked so tired, the Nephew headed off to bed and Patrick was getting his
second wind because the was heading back out to shop with his cousins. I won't say I thought he was crazy because I know how much he enjoys his shopping and it had been a while since he had been able to do it. But I will tell you something that
really knocked me for a loop. Just before he left to go meet up with his cousins,
he handed me the box with the new Net Book in it and said, "Here I got this for you, you have wanted one for a long time and I couldn't pass up the price".
I have to say I got a little emotional about right then, I was so over whelmed with the thought that he went out at 4 am to hopefully get a chance to get this thing, and then stood in line for 4 hours just to pay for it!!! I couldn't even say anything at that moment, and all of you who really know me know that I am NEVER speechless. He left to go for shopping round #2 and I just sat at my desk with
the unopened box trying to think of a way to say Thank You to someone who
loves me so very much. It has been 3 days now and I am still trying to think
of the right words....

later.

ps..I did not open the box until he came home later that evening, it was a very special gift and I did not think I should open it alone. It's really great!!!!

Commuting To Work In Los Angeles......

Like most people who live in the LA area, I commute to work everyday. Each day I get up and drive to the other side of the City from where we live to work. Even though it is only 14 miles one day, it can take me any where from 45 mins to well over an hour. This was one of the culture shocks for me when I moved here. All my life, anywhere I had lived, you could drive 14 miles in 15-20 mins, but of course, not in LA.
I have been working in the same area of town since I moved here 7 years ago. I never take the freeway instead I take side streets and and some main avenues and totally stay off the freeways. I get to cut through some really pretty streets in Chinatown,Silverlake and Echo Park, and by doing this, I get to see things on my way to and from work that people on the freeways would never get to see.
Yesterday was like that. It was a beautiful clear morning and it was a little chilly. Just chilly enough to let you know Autumn is here but no where near full swing. I had made my way to Chinatown and had just turned on the side street that lead me up to Sunset Ave, one of the main roads I take across town. As I made the turn I notice there were several police cars parked to one side and there were a crowd of people gathered around some policeman. Since the traffic had slowed down we were inching our way down the street. Now when the weather permits I drive with my windows rolled down, which is what I was doing yesterday. As I go closer I could see two policeman had this older Hispanic guy up against the wall with his hands behind him and they were putting handcuffs on him. Standing a little further down was a very excited younger Hispanic lady talking in Spanish to two other policeman. As I got closer to them I suddenly saw a young Hispanic guy in his early to middle 20s, siting on the sidewalk holding a cloth to the left side of his face and he was covered in blood down the front of his white shirt. As I got closer to him my traffic stopped and I could hear one of the Policeman speaking to a couple of others explaining what happened. It seems the older gentleman (the one in handcuffs) was the gardener for the Apartment building there on the corner. The younger guy and the lady were walking by on the sidewalk when the older gentleman said something to or about the lady as they passed. When the younger man spoke up and told him to talk to her like that, the older gentleman stabbed the guy in the face with the clippers he had in his hand!!!! I thought wow, had I been come through there just a few minutes earlier I might have been a witness to the stabbing!!!
So the rest of my ride to work was much less eventful! BUT, it got interesting again on my way home!!! Of course now that we have changed the time back to normal time, it is dark when I get off work (which I totally HATE in case you were wondering). So that night I thought I would change up my route a little bit and take a different road over to Sunset. So I chose Santa Monica Ave, which I very seldom take because it had the heaviest traffic. So I made my way down Santa Monica with no problems (and much less traffic for some reason) and as I approached my last big intersection before I hit Sunset, I notice all these Policemen on HORSES! Now I am not talking one or two, I am talking 30 -40!! There on the darkened side streets as I made my way down Santa Monica were all these mounted policeman in every intersection, just sitting around talking to each other. I have NEVER seen a Policeman on a horse in the LA area except in parades, but there they were, all over the place! I could not figure just what was going on. But once I hit Sunset, there were no more to be seen. When I got home I checked on the computer and on the late night news but there was no mention of policeman on horses, for any reason.
Now most days as I travel to and from work, I see nothing at all except the parts of town I travel through and all the great homes and beautiful mountains. But just when I least expect it, the regular ride takes on a little excitement as unelected things take place around me, it really makes for an interesting time!
And to think, I would have missed it all had I taken the freeway instead of my back streets!! Perish the thought!!

later!