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TGI Good Friday

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 10, 2009| 9 Comments

Welp, I made it all the away across the country yesterday so that I could be here in Connecticut for the Hauslaib family Passover Seder dinner. My flight was pretty uneventful … but I did get to catch up on some reading that’s been piling up in the past few weeks. I finally got around to reading the amazing little 1935 travel book Letters from Iceland written by poets WH Auden and Louis MacNeice:


The book has long been out of print and I was unable to get a copy of it before David’s and my first trip to Iceland last September. When the book finally did arrive, I planned to read it on our flight over to Iceland in December but … well, that trip kinda didn’t happen so back on the shelf the book went. Reading it now, altho set in an Iceland of the past, makes me want to go back in the worst way. I just love it there. I found my copy of Letters from Iceland from the amazing site Alibris.com which offers out of print books at very reasonable prices (tho, a quick search now shows that the book goes for $80+ but I managed to get it for about $15 last Fall).

I also read in full the Stephen King novella/short story UR which was written and is available exclusively for the Amazon Kindle electronic book:


I really do not want to spoil the story for any of you interested in reading it — trust me, it’s best if you read it cold. But I will reveal that the Kindle features prominently in the story (a pink Kindle, to be exact) and is absolutely a must read for any King fan. You got a Kindle? You gotta read this story.

Other than that, tho, the trip was pretty standard … I had a short layover in Philly and was very excited to see that they have a Chick-Fil-A inside the airport there … unfortch for me, tho, the damn place was closed :( I almost cried, y’all. But I cheered up considerably when David picked me up at the airport. Seder is in a few hours so … let the Passoverness commence!!

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Elijah, We’re Ready!

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 9, 2009| 11 Comments

Today is a shorter work day for me because I have to make my way to the airport in a few hours to hop a plane bound for the East Coast. I’m meeting up with David in his native Connecticut to spend the Passover/Easter weekend with his family (mom’s side = Passover, dad’s side = Easter). Because Easter and Passover were about a month apart last year, I was not able to fly back to Connecticut for the Hauslaib Seder Dinner (I did make it out there for Easter, tho) so I’m really looking forward to this year’s fun. David and I picked up a set of Finger Puppets of the 10 Plagues of Egypt for the dinner and I can’t wait to use them:


I’ve already decided to be lice for the finger puppet fun … not really cuz I’m a fan of lice but mostly cuz the little puppet looks cute. I think David said he wanted to be Death of the First Born but I’m not too sure. I’m packing our Snuggies for the trip cuz I know it gets cold in Connecticut so … it should be a fun trip!

I have some more work to do for the next few hours and then … I’m out. But I’ll be working as usual thruout the weekend but things may be slower than usual. Woot!

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Un-Amusement Park

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 8, 2009| 55 Comments

Last night I met up with Darion and Loy for a quick bite to eat in Century City before we made our way to the movies. It was cool and rainy so we were really looking forward to a fun night at the movies … unfortch, Adventureland was not quite what we had in mind:


To be fair, the movie totally had its heart in the right place … it tried really hard to be good but, sadly, I didn’t find a thing about it that I liked. The story dragged way too long and the acting performances were not impressive at all. The main guy wants to be Michael Cera so bad … it was kinda sad. Ryan Reynolds, it pains me to say, was so boring in this film … it almost diminished my lurve for him. His character was desperate to be the character that Matthew McConaughey played in Dazed & Confused but it fell waaaaaaaaaaaaaay short. In fact, Adventureland the movie was a really sad attempt to be Dazed & Confused … it’s really bad. None of us were really impressed with the movie at all. I really cannot recommend this film at all … it’s not that funny, it’s not at all deep and it drags the entire time. I’m curious to hear if anyone else liked it … and why. As I said, the movie really tried but, IMHO, does not deliver.

No plans for tonight just yet … I have to finish some chores here and then pack my shizz for my weekend trip back East. While I am not looking forward to all the flying, I am looking forward to seeing David and his family. For them, I’d fly anywhere.

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Over ‘The Hills’

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 7, 2009| 22 Comments

So, my day yesterday pretty much consisted of laundry and TV … in that order. Because I am a huge procrastinator I tend to group my chores into lumps that get taken care of on particular days. Sunday was all about the dishes and kitchen, yesterday was about the laundry. Today will be about putting things away and packing for this weekend’s trip … but that will come in due course. I managed to get all of my laundry done yesterday which meant that I had a free night to sit in front of the TV. I am very pleased that HBO‘s amazing series In Treatment has returned with their second season.


While the first season eps aired in 30-minute eps 5-days a week, this season all 5 weekly eps air over two days — 2 on Sunday, 3 on Monday. BUT, HBO reairs the Sunday eps before the Monday eps so I can now look forward to 5 eps of In Treatment every Monday evening. Yesterday’s batch of eps were so good. The writing on that show is superb, you must watch. Dianne Wiest is the BEST thing about the series, I live for her eps.

I also enjoyed the new ep of 24 and kinda enjoyed The Hills. I’m sorry, that show has gotten so far from reality that I have a hard time watching it with any seriousness anymore. I mean … it’s basically turned into this:


Kinda funny and wholly ridiculous. That being said, I did Twitter the hell out of last night’s ep … so that was fun but, alas, I’m kinda really over The Hills. I’ll still watch (and will prolly live Twitter) future eps but … meh. If I want to watch scripted TV, I’ll go for the shows that have the best writing (see In Treatment above).

Other than that … ’twas a quiet night. I curled up in bed with my Kindle 2 for some reading to close out the night. I’m trying to make the most of my alonetime this week but I’m missing David. I can’t wait to see him on Thursday.

I might be more social tonight, I have a hankering for some popcorn … HMMMM.

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Hair Of The Dog

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 6, 2009| 6 Comments

After the really terrible day I suffered thru on Saturday all I really wanted to do on Sunday was to try and salvage my weekend and get some things around the house taken care of. My very good friend Darion was not content with letting me stay in all day, whether I was feeling better or not, and insisted that I join him and his friends for brunch at Basix. I finished work in time to meet up with them and ended up having a great time. I was cajoled into heading over to The Abbey for an afternoon cocktail but having vowed to “never drink again” I really wasn’t gonna go there again. But, Darion and his wily convincing got me to succumb and, well, off to The Abbey we went. Again, I had a great time hanging out with The Abbey crowd yesterday afternoon. There was talk of heading out to My House for their bi-weekly gay extravaganza but the place was closed for some reason and we ended up making a cameo at Here Lounge to end the night:


The moral of the story is that I didn’t get a lick of housework done but I do have pretty fantastic friends … so I guess I win in the end :) Today, tho, I really have to get shizz done around the house before I pack up for my quick trip to the East Coast to have Passover with David’s family. The weather is so beautiful today, tho, I might have to get outside at some point — housework or no housework :)

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Not Dead Yet

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 5, 2009| 7 Comments

OY! Thankfully I seem to have survived my hellacious hang-over yesterday from my raucous night before. I’m not kidding, the whole day was a total wash. I pretty much ached all day long then pained all night long. My day was spent on the couch watching movies and trying to keep from dying. Not a pretty sight, believe me. As a result, I ain’t got nothin’ to share. The original plan to go to Disneyland with Darion and Kirsten got axed and then I had to bail on the rescheduled plan to do dinner and a movie. Darion was planning to cook! UGH! I’m never drinking again. Er, or I should say I’m never drinking to excess again.

I’m gonna see about salvaging my weekend today … David – the love my life – left me with a lot of mess to clean up around the house so I’ll have to get to that at some point but hopefully I’ll get out of the house today. Wish me luck.

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I <3 Ronson

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 4, 2009| 20 Comments

Blaurgh. Last night was a lot of fun and I’m still paying for it this afternoon. I swear, I’m never drinking again … ever. But fun was had last night … for sure. After I dropped off David at the airport, I met up with my friend Johnny for a quick cameo at a TMZ party at Red Rocks on Sunset. I really love the TMZ crew … they are the coolest bunch of people and it’s always a good time seeing them out in social situations. Because they all work so hard (pretty much 24/7), it’s rare to see them socially but when there is a TMZ party, it’s deffo a party. After spending some time there, Johnny and I made our way to Bar Marmont at the Chateau Marmont to attend the I Heart Ronson party to celebrate Charlotte Ronson‘s new clothing line for JC Penney. Mark Ronson and the Version Players provided the live music and Samatha Ronson provided the party tunes after … it was a really fun event:


I managed to avoid running into Pug Dilton but I did get to chat with Nicole Richie for a bit. Her bump is getting so big! It looks much bigger in person than it does in pictures. Mark Ronson killed it on stage and Johnny and I had a blast.

But our night was over yet … after the Ronson event, we made our way to Fubar to get our drink on … and boy, did we ever. I haven’t gotten that loaded in a very long time … I mean, it was fun at the time but UGH I’m so paying for it now. I had plans to go with Darion and Kirsten to Disneyland today but, alas, the trip got scrapped cuz of my near deathness. We’re gonna try and do dinner and a movie later. Blah, we’ll see.

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There’s Something To Be Said For Subtlety

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 2, 2009| 29 Comments

Okay, it’s time to fess up … no, David and I are not engaged to be wed. While some of you may not have been cool with my little joke, David and I actually got a kick out of it. As I said, it’s so hard to pull off an April Fool’s joke that has any semblance of believability … but a subtle mention of something plausible has a chance at being successful. I swear, some of my best friends had to ask me if I was joking or not. I thought about concocting some story about how David and I eloped but there is no way that would’ve worked. I promise, if any such engagement does occur — I’ll make sure to make it clear to all y’all :) Much love to the many of you who had kind things to say about our “good news”. Trust me, we not be officially engaged but David and I are the best we’ve ever been and we are very, very happy together :)

So … let’s move on. Last night, David and I attended the taping of American Idol (as guests of one of the judges, I might add) and had a great time. We were excited to see Lady Gaga but also to watch the taping of the show. Here are the fancy tickets that we had waiting for us:


Hee hee … we did not get any screentime but in one of the wide audience shots I could make out where we were sitting. I wore a bright yellow t-shirt so I was able to pick out our blurry likenesses. We had a great time … much love to the folks at AI for taking such great care of us — we had a blast :)

Tonight, Darion and I are heading out to see Lily Allen in concert … I’m soooo excited. I’m sure it’ll be a great time. Hopefully I’ll have pics to share!!!

Again, hopefully there aren’t any hard feelings … it was April Fool’s after all :)

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Foolin’ Around

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on April 1, 2009| 73 Comments

So I thought long and hard about coming up with a fun April Fool’s Joke to play today but I couldn’t think of anything that would sound believeable. In the end, I decided to just take a pass on playing any jokes this year. Now that David and I are engaged, I’m feelin’ too old for any of this funny biz.

Yesterday was a pretty chill day … David and I met with a fine young chap named John from Syracuse University who is writing a graduate paper on gay blogs and we all had a nice convo over late lunch at Toast. After that, we talked about seeing a movie but that never happened. Instead we came home to be lazy. Yeah, doesn’t it sound like we’re married already?

Tonight, David is dragging me to American Idol for the results show. I’m not a fan of the show but he is so we’re going. Hopefully, it’ll be fun. That’s pretty much all I got. I’ve still got work to do before we have to head off to the studio taping. Happy Fool’s Day, y’all … are you having fun today?

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Bullseye

The TV Guide
Posted by: Trent on March 31, 2009| 19 Comments

So let me tell you about my exciting day yesterday … I went to Target. The end. Hahahaha … after the exciting weekend I just enjoyed with Prince and friends, I was due for a pretty regular, boring night. The highlight for me was my trip to Target to get some supplies for the abode, a trip to McDonald’s (where I ordered Chicken McNuggets and got a stupid Big Mac) and then a night in front of the tele with the Gossip Girl gang and 24‘s Jack Bauer. Ta da!! While I Target, I was perusing the impulse buy options at the check-out when I found this item trying to entice me:


I’m usually pretty good at taking a pass on the impulse buy options but when an item comes complete with a spork, well, I had to get it. I have yet to eat the peaches but, again, I really only bought it for the prize inside (which is how I used to shop for breakfast cereal when I was a kid). Yeah, that was my day.

This afternoon, David and I have an appointment and then … no plans for after. Mebbe a movie, mebbe not … which is just fine with me.

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