q u e e r l y * w r i t t e n

so, i had a good time at mardi gras. at least that’s what i’ve been told. i don’t remember a whole lot of the actual ride. but let’s take it from the beginning…

friday night we went to krewe of orpheus in mandeville. then we got up at 6am saturday morning to go to new orleans. unfortunately, we didn’t have the use of the condo on st. charles this year, so we drove back and forth. but we did stand in our usual spot in front of the condo and caught iris and tucks. then we walked down to lee circle and waited five hours for endymion. got home about midnight.

back up sunday morning early, and met andrew and elena to go back to new orleans. caught okeanos, mid-city and thoth on magazine street. didn’t stay for bacchus though.

we stayed home monday and played online and rested. got dressed and went to new orleans about 10 monday night, and stayed out all night. hung out with jay and joey, our friends who moved to san francisco after katrina at the pub, then walked down to the corner pocket to watch the young guys dance on the bar.

we stayed in the quarter til about 3:30am, then went to ihop for breakfast. got on the float about 5:30am and pulled out a little after 6 for line-up at zephyr field. started drinking about 8, and the rest they say, is history!

i started with rockstar and vodka, and jello shots, then started swigging straight vodka from the bottle. i remember waiting on veterans avenue to start parading. i remember getting the black hat with the blue boa and the pot neclace i have on in the picture from a float that was lined up next to us, but everything starts getting fuzzy after that.

all i know is about halfway through the parade route, i realized i had taken 700 pictures and had no memory left on my camera, and shortly after that, i saw that all my throws were gone!! now, i’m very picky with who gets my stuff. you have to be a cute guy, and you have to show some skin to get the good stuff. well, i dunno, cuz everything was gone, and i don’t have any pictures to tell the true tale of who got what!!! LOL

i’m told i got a box of pizza, some fried chicken, an egg roll and a burger from various people on the parade route in exchange for spears or beads or something. guess i was hungry!

it does kinda suck that i really don’t have any memories of the actual parade. next year, no vodka for me!!!!

i do have a gallery up with photos from this years’ parades. they aren’t all posted yet, but several are up here

btw, 354 days ’til mardi gras 2010!!!

but not today so much. off work. been hanging out all day. bout to shower and head to the quarter for an all-nighter before we get on the float at 5:30am for mardi gras! woohoo!

if you are in metairie, look for us on the back of float 5, neutral ground side, in the krewe of jefferson which follows argus. we are pirates…

(all images can be found in gallery)

vikki!!

luv ya!!

ready for summer edition…

5.12.08 - 299.6 pounds
7.22.08 - 250.6 pounds

total weight loss was 49 pounds

2.17.09 - 282.6 pounds

weight gain was 32 pounds

difference from start -17 pounds

i’m back on the bandwagon. i’ve been eating right this week, and have gotten up the last two mornings at 5:30am to go to the gym. i know what it took to lose the 49 pounds last year, and i’m determined to get back to that 250, then even lower.

i can, and i will do it. i’m gonna look at the last six months as only a setback, and pick up right where i left off!

in my new position as production manager went very well yesterday! much smoother than anticipated, but it’s just the beginning. got my bearings at my new desk, started learning more about the pdf workflow and even got the time clock corrected. yoohoo! i feel like i accomplished something!

there will be about 3-4 weeks of training, then i’ll hire a replacement for my old position of corporate printing consultant.

anybody need a job?

krewe of eve in mandeville friday night

Sara Bareilles at family gras in metairie saturday

Zac Brown Band at family gras in metairie saturday

krewr of caesar saturday night in metairie

i’ve been at my current job for 5 1/2 years as a corporate printing consultant. i’ve developed several sales programs for the company, including one that has now been patented and copyrighted by two different printing oragnizations (crouser and cprint)… a program i initiated, and taught at a trade show in las vegas a few years ago.

i got my reward this week.

i was promoted to production manager, which means i now run the shop, second only to the owner and general manager! woohoo!!

that calculates to about a $12,000 yearly salary increase, not to mention more benefits. it’s going to be very challenging, but after a couple of years of being very bored at my job, i welcome this opportunity!!

happy valentine’s day!

(all images can be found in gallery)