Jerry Timms

Friday night Jerry and I finally got Vicky to come out with us. We walked to the Arizona Center where we had dinner and wine at Uno, and then continued walking to Amsterdam afterwards for drinks. It was interesting to walk around downtown again and see the progress on the light rail. It seems like it’s almost done, but I guess there are still power lines lines to build and street and traffic direction infrastructure.

Walking on the light rail tracks down Central Avenue

When we got to Amsterdam, it was a light crowd, and Vicky even asked if it was closed down right before we went in. We found a larger crowd on the patio, and took some seats on the balcony. Jerry got awkwardly hit on by a lesbian. The vibe of Amsterdam has definitely changed since the opening of Burn, and I think it’s also being affected by the restrictive construction all around the building.

Aw, I missed Vicky!

Saturday night was Mark’s birthday dinner at Fate, where everyone had a delicious dinner but consistently disappointing martinis. One tasted like a margharita pizza (with tomato juice and basil) and one tasted like lemon pledge (with fresh ginger juice). The coconut curry is still my favorite dinner there, even if it does look a little like pea soup sometimes. After Fate we went back to Mark and Andrea’s place for a bit before heading back out to Burn, where we all had jello shots and vodka drinks. Rich and Justin stalked some of the waiters and Mark got appropriately birthday-drunk. Afterwards we hung out some more at Mark and Andrea’s before calling it a late night.

Andrea, Mark, Rich and Justin at Burn

Earlier in the week, Daren and I went to Seamus McCaffrey’s for some drinks and discussed the recent developments in our dating lives. Daren is back with Phaedra, but I’m pretty much out of luck with the original Mr. X’s. As I mentioned before…one is moving away and one really doesn’t seem to be interested at all, so that’s that. There are some possibilities out there still, and I probably won’t really go into them until I see where they’re going.

Diet and working out are still going well. I really like the supplements I’m taking - all from German American Technologies, which seems to be a pretty quality brand. Me and a lot of my other friends are taking the XC4 creatine, and I’ve also been taking the Stenandiol 3.0 system. Oh, and EAS 100% whey protein shakes. Overall I think they’ve helped me put on a little more muscle, and I’m happy to report that I don’t look totally hideous in a tank top anymore.

It’s hard to take pictures of yourself!

Well I haven’t done one of those “here’s what I did last weekend” posts in awhile, so that’s where I’ll start tonight.

This last weekend was one of the first full weekends in awhile where I’ve been in town (and not preparing for some imminent trip). So friday was nice and low-key hanging out at the Governor’s Mansion with Jerry, watching some episodes of heroes and drinking beer and eating pizza.

But the highlight was certainly the discussion, catching each other up on our recent activities…my vacation to Florida and his recent courtship and dating. Jerry’s been working so much that he rarely dates, so it was interesting to hear about this girl that it seems he really likes.

Saturday I did a bunch of yardwork, cleaned the pool (found a dead pigeon in the skimmer and put myself through a little bird flu scare), and then headed to Arizona Mills for some shopping. After buying some swimsuits and eating lunch, I headed north to Scottsdale Fashion Square for some more shopping and better people watching. Seriously, it was pretty hideous at the Mills…but oddly, not much better at Fashion Square. After a call from Rich, I decided to meet him, Justin, Mark and Andrea at George & Dragon for a late dinner, beers and conversation.

Later that evening we all decided to go to Burn for more drinks and dancing. We all had a good time, and from what I remember the music was good even though we couldn’t tell who the dj was that night (not Jeremy). After closing we ended up back at Mark and Andrea’s new fabulous place in Willo, where we talked some more and I bonded with their dogs.

Sunday I hung out at the pool for awhile before going with Daren to see Jerry at work. Jerry’s restaurant is having some sort of contest to see which location can sell the most wine, so we got a bottle of wine and some burgers. Well, all that talk about wine made the three of us decide to go back to Jerry’s place to drink a couple more bottles of it and watch a movie and some TV.

We saw Little Miss Sunshine. Although I was prepared to hate it (OK, Andrea!) I found it really interesting. Everyone in this family battles with some sort of failure, and if you get caught up in that then it would probably be a pretty depressing movie. But the most interesting character is actually this old yellow VW Bus. To get it going past second gear they all have to get outside of it and push really fast, and when it gets to third gear (I think? the explanation was a bit convoluted) then they all have to run alongside the thing and jump in. Sometimes pulled in.

They do this alot, because they take the Bus to California so this little girl can realize her dream of being in a beauty pageant. Everyone confronts their failures and insecurities along the way, blah blah. Family always pulls together, blah.

But I started thinking about that Bus, and thought it was actually a really beautiful metaphor for all of us and how sometimes in life we just find ourselves going nowhere and need the help of our friends and family to push us forward, and then get back on for the ride. Ugh, cheesy I know.

Well, this week I’m planning on getting a lot of work done. I’m also organizing the house…today was vitamin day. I’m a total supplement whore, and decide to clean out all the crap that I don’t even use. Tomorrow evening I’m cleaning out the pantry and then going out to dinner with Mr. X. You see how I just slipped that in there?

I just found out that Justin has a blog. Actually, he’s been blogging since May which is really creepy because it’s like he’s been undercover this whole time. Rich decided he’s gonna start writing a little more detail of his personal life and it’s pretty interesting. Both of their links are over there —->

I met with CPA today, and taxes for last year weren’t nearly as bad as I thought they’d be. In fact, I saved a little too much reserve to pay them. So, maybe I’ll buy a TV.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the Phoenix pride festival with Mark and Andrea, Rich, Justin, Philip and Rob. What started out as a fun afternoon unfortunately turned fairly miserable for me because I had an awful athsma and allergy attack from the dust. Mental note to get on the daily allergy meds now that it’s summer.

Andrea and Rich

Mark and Philip

Justin and Rob

After the festival, I took a quick nap at home and then headed to the Icehouse to meet everyone for the Adonis Party…

…where I was greeted by this fantastic laser show. DJ Tony Moran was spinning, although there were very few people here at the time - probably about 10pm. So I wandered around for a bit, being reminded of last year, and soon ran into Mike, Nate and Brian.

We grabbed some drinks while waiting for the rest of the gang to get there, and when they did we eventually ended up on the dance floor to enjoy the music.

Brian and Rob

At midnight we were treated to a performance by the original Village People, which was actually better than I thought it would be. Although it was odd because I couldn’t help thinking I was looking at more of an historical artifact than entertainment. But they did teach us how to properly do the YMCA dance…and I found that I have been actually doing the “M” wrong, who knew?

The Village People

Me and Mike

We continued dancing until 4am, and everyone seemed to have a really good time. I was fairly deep in thought for most of the night since Pride often makes me think a little more critically about my life, my friends and relationships. The enemy of Pride is self-doubt, and so Pride becomes about so much more than just living proudly as a gay man. There are an assortment of things that can cause self-doubt, and many of us never properly confront those things to conquer them. And so this weekend is just one of many in what is shaping up to be a year of great positive change for me, and I’m truly proud of what I’ve accomplished and will continue to accomplish with the support of everyone.

Yesterday was one of those days where I did so much, with so many people, that I feel like I’ve just returned from vacation. That was only one day? Well, I had a really great time and I’m just taking it easy right now in preparation for the core event tonight!

So, where to begin? I went to Chelsea’s Kitchen at around 5pm to meet Bernie, Justin, Rich, and Mark and Andrea. Bernie is a coworker and friend who was in town from Denver because he wanted to meet Mark, who is interested in working with us. I drove up with Rich (who, remember, works with me now) and we took a diversion along the way so that he could show me a house he and Justin like in the Willo neighborhood. The house is gorgeous, and it’s on the cutest cul-de-sac ever with medium sized historic homes and lush landscaping. But, I digress.

So, we get to Chelseas Kitchen on Camelback Rd. in Phoenix (sorry, SEO moment) and Mark, Andrea and Bernie are already there. Everyone is kind of low-key when we get there, and I remark how interesting it is that most of us hung out last weekend, and now are hanging out again in more of a work-employment-professional context.

This is Mark and Andrea yesterday at Chelsea’s Kitchen

This is Mark and Andrea last weekend at Burn

So, you can see how I’m sitting there and thinking wow, everyone acts much differently depending on the reason for the social gathering. I mean we were basically the same group of people, just with the addition of Bernie and a pretext of hiring Mark as a consultant. Now I’ve gotten pretty crazy with Bernie, so when I’m with him at a bar I don’t really think of it as “work.” Anyway, maybe you get what I’m saying and maybe you don’t. I tried to explain it to everyone at the table and I just got some blank stares, so I’ll just leave it at that.

We all had some drinks, talked shop, and played Bernie’s “hot tub game” which is a game where everyone has to pick famous people to be in their make-believe hot tub party. I picked Eddie Cibrian, but nobody knows who he is.

At about 9pm we decided to split up a little…Bernie and his sister Laura decided to eat dinner at Chelsea’s, Mark and Andrea decide to go home, and Rich and Justin and I decided to go to Ticoz for some dinner. Ticoz was good, and I nearly fell over in my chair after seeing our waiter who looked exactly like Eddie Cibrian.

Eddie Cibrian

Eddie Cibrian is best known for his role as a pensive firefighter in Third Watch, as well as a park ranger in the sci-fi TV series Invasion last year, and of course But I’m a Cheerleader, a 1999 movie where a naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian. But, I digress!

Yes, I probably looked like a stuttering idiot when the waiter asked for my drink and food orders.

So after dinner and some martinis, Bernie and Laura meet us at Ticoz, and follow us to Amsterdam. Laura, being new to the Jerry Timms blog, requires a proper introduction here. She is Bernie and Anthony’s sister, and is great fun whenever she’s out with us. She also looks a lot like Alyson Hannigan, best known for her role as Willow the cute and charming lesbian witch on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Which is slightly interesting that we were just talking about Willo (the Phoenix neighborhood) earlier in the evening…also cute and charming, but in neighborhood format.

Alyson Hannigan

Laura’s personality kind of reminds me of Willow, too…not the lesbian part, but the cute and charming part. So, we get to Amsterdam and take a tour of the place before getting our drinks and doing some dancing in Club Miami.

Justin and Laura dancing

Bernie and Me

Bernie, showing off his new purse

Rich and Laura - we’re totally taking her out again

So, now that brings us to a little past 1am, and Bernie and Laura decide they’re bushed and want to go home. So I’m hanging out with Rich and Justin on the patio, and Daren calls and decides to meet up with us. So I show him around the bar, and we get fresh rounds of drinks.

Rich, Justin and Daren

We stay at Amsterdam until about 2:30 (Redbull is amazing, isn’t it?) and then decide to call it a night. Thanks everyone for a great time!

Here are some pictures from last weekend…

Friday night I went with Rich and Justin to the Red Magazine anniversary party at Burn. The club actually cleared out pretty early, and it felt like we had the place to ourselves!

Saturday evening I was invited over for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner at Mary Lou’s house (that’s Jerry and Vicky’s mom). Dinner was delicious, and afterwards we played an Ireland trivia game. In this pic you can see Mary Lou reading a question while everyone gets excited to blurt out the answer! Mary Lou always goes all out for holidays, and I’m always amazed at the traditions that their family has for each one!

Saturday night started at Fate for an after dinner drink with Rich, Justin, Mark and Andrea. Then we headed to Burn for dancing and more drinks. Notice how hard I’m working on my tan for the White Party? Oddly, I was the only one wearing green.

Sunday night, Rich and Justin called me up to go to dinner with them since they were in the area “taking a drive.” Well, I knew right away why they were in central Phoenix, and that’s because they were looking at neighborhoods and houses! Even though they recently decided they were going to move to LA sometime soon, I think they are starting to get cold feet because of the prices there. So it seems that a move to central Phoenix might be a good compromise for awhile…they get to be in a more urban setting than they’re in now, without having to commit to a much more dramatic move to Los Angeles.

So anyway we went to dinner at Ticoz, where the food is delicious and the waiters make you blush by remembering really old online conversations. Then we decided to go to Padlock for drinks, where we all took our shirts off so that we could get the drinks for half price. It was actually a really odd and unpredictable day, but fun of course. See Rich and Justin, you can’t do this stuff in Mesa!

The weekend seemed to go by fast, but I had a great time and feel amazingly well rested! I was so verbose with my last post, that I thought I would tell the story of this weekend in pictures.

Thursday I went to urban nightclub Sky Lounge with Justin, Rich and Mark

Friday was Cheuvront for dinner, and then Amsterdam with Justin and Andrea…

…Philip and members from his support group…

…Rich and this hot guy in glasses.

Saturday afternoon was Body Worlds 3 (see last post)

Saturday night was Burn with Rich, Philip and Justin…

…and all the hot dancers.

And in the end, Berger and I were almost the only ones to not pass out!

Check out Rich’s blog for another perspective!

I don’t know what it is about AZ88 in Scottsdale - but every time I go there, there is a bit of convergence involved. By that I mean that there are people in the party who haven’t met each other before that night. In fact, I don’t think I can remember ever having been there where I had previously known everyone in my party.

At about 9pm I met Rich, Justin, Mark, Andrea, Jerry and Daren for an evening of strong drinks, sub-par food, and fun conversation. It’s no secret that I don’t particularly like AZ88 for various reasons, but I still had fun nonetheless because of the company.

After dinner and a few drinks, we headed to Burn Nighclub in downtown Phoenix for a few more drinks and some dancing. I realized how much I had missed Mark and Andrea, as they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. DJ Jeremy was good, but we all agreed that he wasn’t as good as last week.

Justin, Andrea, Rich and Mark at Burn Nightclub

Today I’m getting a bit of a late start, because I did the afternoon nap thing, and now I feel like I’ve been asleep for 16 hours even though it’s only been a total of about 8. I have a lot of work to do today for one of my clients, so I’m not sure if I’ll get to writing about something that has been on my mind for the last few days. I also need to work out with Jerry and Daren at about 7. I think I might work from Starbucks tomorrow, I’m feeling a little couped up in this house…