Tag! I'm it...

Michael Thomas Ford, the wonderful queer author who hooked me up with Alyson Books (which eventually led to Mondo Homo’s publication) tagged me. Not in that gangbanger way, in that annoying “you have to answer all these questions or a horrible curse will befall you” way.
But then I read his twisted answers and realized it could be fun. Plus, there was no curse. I work better without the pressure.
Here's how you play: Once you’re tagged, write a blog with 10 weird, random facts, habits, or goals you want to achieve. Then list 10 friends you're going to tag to continue the game. You may not tag back the person who tags you. As Michael correctly states, “If you do this, you are a moron.”

Fret not, you've only been tagged if your name appears at the end of this post AND I've sent you an email saying so. If I don’t, it’s not because I don’t love you. It’s because you suck and I hate you. (Kidding. It’s a pretty random decision on my part.)

You can always start one on your own and not invite me to play in your sandbox. That’ll teach me!

Ten VERY Interesting Facts You Might Not Know About

Richard Andreoli.

1. My first job was at the fast food restaurant Jack in the Box; this was how I met the first guy I ever humped.

2. When I moved to LA I changed my name to “Rick” because I thought it sounded butch.

3. I used to be in the SCA, a renaissance recreationist group. I never learned to fight but I belly dance with candles rather well.

4. I had a mullet... years after it was fashionable.

5. I am more proud of Steve’s accomplishments than I am my own.

6. When I’m down on my career, I sometimes wonder if I pissed off a big Hollywood exec (or perhaps a Scientologist) years ago, and this person sabotaged my work life, which explains why nothing is going the way I imagined it would when I was in junior high and dreamed of becoming a writer.

7. Some of my first writing jobs were in porn. The porn I wrote was very good, and I am still in much demand for my mad porn-writing skills.

8. I always want everyone to like me. When they don’t, I often fret over it for many hours.

9. Though I have a full time job now, I continue accepting freelance work because I’m constantly worried my bosses will wake up one day and say, “Why the f—k did we hire this guy?” and I’ll be out of a job any second.

10. One day I want to own a sexy car.
Friends I'm tagging: Glen, Lori, John, Jeffrey, Mikel, Anthony, Michele, Glanzer, Mark G., Greg

View From The 15th Floor (Literally)

When I started at the new job, I mentioned my amazing view; the view I was going to lose in the coming days. Here was the view out to Santa Monica and the ocean.

Above was the view straight out from my desk, so I could see the Getty Museum up on the top of the hill.
Here was the view to the east and downtown LA, toward the hills where I live.
This was the rainbow outside the supply closet window following last week's rainstorm.
Here is my view now.

Heard a rumor we're being moved again as more database employees come in. Can't wait to see what that view is like.

President's Day Before the Illness

This is Dexter. We were friends in junior high and high school, and though I saw him at the high school reunion we hadn't really talked since graduation. He's now gay. (Yes Karen, it's THAT Dexter. Apologies for not telling you until now.) Dexter looked me up online and discovered I was VERY gay, came out to visit from Atlanta, so Steve and I took him out on the town.

We had dinner at Casita del Campo because Dexter misses California-style Mexican food, and then we hit MJs. Turns out, it was a big new night.

Mario Diaz, of Hot Dog and Big Fat Dick nights, hosts another super hot, super sexy, New York style evening called Swallow. It was a definite good time-- we haven't been dancing in ages-- but the three of us hit it like Dexter and I were at the prom all over again (but without lesbian dates and sneaking booze around).

Here is Dexter studying the local art.


Dexter also got to meet local celeb, Aman About Town (On the far right). In the middle is Dave Okey, who I knew from working at The Athletic Club and who Steve worked with at Disney. (Dave was also a Chippendales dancer years ago, I think, and he danced at City Streets at Sea World San Diego when I was but a wee lad.

Then a Madonna drag impersonator and midget Lourdes got on stage and everything came to a screeching halt. We decided to take off at that point.

As we left we saw a man riding a crotch rocket. That was enough insanity for one night.

Fabulous New Barbie Dolls!

I'm not that big a fag that I collect Barbie dolls, but I did think these were pretty fabulous! They're from Mattel's Barbie Collector line for 2008.

This is Black Canary, the DC Comics hero. She's not the most popular hero but really cool and they did a great job on her costume. There's also Supergirl, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman.

But my other favorite set includes...
The girls from Grease. Here's Barbie as Olivia Newton John herself, "Sandy." They also have Rizzo (looks good but the neck is kind of long) and Frenchy. There are also random showgirls and other collectible versions, but these pop culture dolls are pretty awesome!

Such A Scary Pic

Is it me, or is this image if John McCain's wife kind of Stepford Wives creepy and evil?

Actually, she looks more like Chucky from the Child's Play movies.

I'm not one to judge a President's qualities by his wife -- though Laura and George do seem to fit rather well together-- but still... This pic freaks me out! And I can't stop staring at it. Why God? WHY???

Hottest New Designs in Hollywood

As you may recall, Steve's brother Jeffrey Thompson is an interior designer. A very good one. I could brag about how he swept through FIDM impressing everyone, but let's just let his most recent work speak for itself.

(entrance)

The project is for Pioneer Home Electronics where he designed and implemented a loft to launch the new Kuro line of televisions. The loft is at the Broadway building at Hollywood and Vine.

(bar)

It's an event space where celebs and A-listers can host private parties or screenings, and the emphasis is on the TVs as pieces of art. It's not open to the public. I don't think I'm allowed to say who's going there in the coming weeks, but it's pretty cool and should be getting a lot of attention in the next year.

(main screening room)

(main screening room & bar)

(shout out screens)

(shout out sofa facing the screens)

It's REALLY a Small World

Last night Steve and I had dinner with brothers Jeff & John at Chin Chin on the Sunset Strip. I started to feel a little draggy so we decided we wouldn't go out and party it up, but as I walked out of the restaurant I heard this woman say, "Is that Richard Andreoli???"

It was Gail Gibbons, a friend of mine from San Diego. Gail is a youth minister and she was one of the folks running the Christian Awakening program, which was an intensive Catholic retreat program for kids in SD. She and I worked together planning events and such, but she's a dear friend I haven't seen since before Steve and I were together.

(In case you're wondering, I was out to her back then. Gail is one of the good Catholics. She also taught aerobics at Jane Fonda's studio, I think.)

Turns out, Gail was on her way back to SD from touring UC Santa Cruz with her son and daughter (who is a senior in high school). I tripped out, especially when we realized I'd decided to wear my Christian Awakening team T-shirt that night!

She also reads the blog, so she was very excited to meet everyone in person. She looked at Steve and said, "I love your snowglobes!" and then to Jeff and Steve and saying, "Yeah, your dad just moved to Michigan, and then you guys made Christmas cookies, and then you took a trip to Palm Springs-- I really want to review restaurants with Richard but it never works out-- and..."

Seriously! Of all the nights and all the wardrobes and all the people who claim to read the blog and actually do read it, everything came together. Like divine intervention, I'd say. Thank God John has his i-Phone to snap this pic.

It was lovely, but unfortunately I got a bad sinus/chest thing and spent the night sleeping in the spare room. Yuck. Hopefully I'll be better for work tomorrow. I HATE being sick. Back to watching Phineas and Ferb...

What do I do at Reunion.com?

When it's not taking me hours to drive from here to home-- two hours, 15 minutes yesterday y'all-- I write. A lot. And talk about writing. And meet about the sort of messaging and stuff we're putting out on the website.

But more importantly, our website reunites people. Here's a great story. If you have 5 minutes today (and let's face it, who doesn't on a holiday weekend Friday?) then you should check it out.

Two Hours

That's how long it took me to get to work this morning.

This job is seriously cutting into my blogging time.
Yuck.

Celebrity Sightings For the Last Two Weeks!

There may be a writer's strike going on, but Steve and I are still running into celebs all over town at various restaurants. What I love most about this group is that they're all very random.

Let's start with Marix Tex Mex in West Hollywood, which for years has been known for it's margaritas, cheap but mediocre food (that tastes MUCH better with said margaritas) and as a hangout for Jennifer Anniston. Word to the world: she doesn't really come here anymore because so many fans would visit looking for her.


But it still brings in celebs, including Kristin Chenoweth. Most know her from the incredible ABC show Pushing Daisies or as the original Glinda in Broadway's Wicked.

She seems lovely. We think she's be friends with us, but we don't want to interrupt her dinners/drinks to find out. That would be rude.

Spotted her last week. Then on Sunday, Steve and I took our friend Vincent for dinner because he's a new gay to LA and we mentioned celebs visit this place. Then in walks Quentin Tarantino! Of all people! Isn't that kind of crazy?









This past week I had to review Paperfish, the new Patina Group restaurant in the olde Maple Drive restaurant space in Beverly Hills. This fabulously dapper older gentleman walked in with a large group, I looked at him wondering if he was some 1970s actor who had aged very well...


...then suddenly realized it was Vidal Sassoon! (And yes, I did recognize him because he was on Bravo's Sheer Genius last season. Don't judge me!)








And I thought, Damn! If you don't look good, he don't look good!



BTW, Paperfish is fantastic, with a sophisticated design that looks retro hip while feeling very modern and futuristic. We loved it.

Speaking of restaurant reviews, Steve and I hit Little Dom's last night in Silver Lake. The original Dominick's in West Hollywood is an old Rat Pack hangout and this smaller version has been much anticipated. Worth the wait, with amazing food and service (I don't care what Irene at the LA Times says). Anyway, sitting at the next table was the ever-lovely Laren Graham of Gilmore Girls fame.

So much fun! And I know I've been lax on the celeb sightings recently. We'll have more soon. Promise.

Amazing Valentine's Day Comedy Show!

The first time I saw Amy Witry perform was at The Groundlings in LA. It was a simple improv game, where two people try to tell a story but they can only use one word each and it has to follow the alphabet. They started at N where she looked at the woman standing opposite her and said, "Nice..." as though the woman had just jacked up. The scene partner, totally oblivious, said, "Oh, thanks!"

Kind of a cheat. Definitely a lame response. Amy pressed on. "Please!" she said, clearly showing her character was offended and keeping the story going. "Quiet..." the other girl whispered.

Everyone in the audience sighed. You could tell this second chick was more concerned with the alphabet than listening to her scene partner. But in what I thought was a very clever maneuver, Amy stayed with her tone and thus reflected the growing frustration in the audience. With every other word we leaned in, laughing at how Amy could completely interpret our annoyance (and, I presume, her own) for this lame actor she'd been stuck with.

We started laughing and cheering until the alphabet returned to the beginning, the letters got to "B," Amy simply looked at the woman and said-- you guessed it-- "Bitch."

The audience was on their feet.
Over the years I've seen Amy hone her comedic skills at various clubs around town, most recently at The Comedy Store in Hollywood. What amazes me about Amy's performances is her ability to read a crowd. I've seen her immediately take in a crowd of Republicans at The Ice House in Pasadena and focus on the humor she finds in her Iowa roots, and then the next week walk into a crowd of fiesty gays at a fundraiser and cover sex and pop culture without blinking.

She's performing again this Sunday, Feb 10th, at 8pm at The Comedy Store (8433 Sunset); $5 cover, in the Belly Room upstairs. But for those of us boycotting VD (Valentine's Day, yo!) the best way to make yourself happy and NOT buy into the whole expensive dinners and crap like that would be to see her at Room 5 (143 N. La Brea) upstairs; it's $5 for singles and $10 for couples... um, which I guess is the same price. Whatever.

The bottom line for me-- and remember, I used to produce a stand up show in LA-- is that it's tough finding a night with solid performers. But every time I've seen Amy Witry perform in LA my face and head hurt from laughing so hard, and I think that's one of the best ways anyone could spend a Valentine's Day.

So get out there on the 14th and get your heart on for Amy. She's amazing!

What's Steve Doing with Disney This Week?

I've spent a lot of time these past couple weeks writing about my stuff and neglected the cool new things coming out at The Disney Store that Steve designed. Including...
This Tinkerbell Fairies snowglobe. It is brilliant! It features all your favorite fairies alighted in this golden snowglobe: Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa, Fawn and Tinker Bell, of course!

*Hand-painted, hand-crafted cast metal, resin and glass.
*Metallic and sparkling accents
*Lights up under Tinker Bell

This one runs for $150 in the stores, but online you can buy it for $74.75 (as of right now-- that will change.)

These World of Disney bookends are a reissue. They're one of the first items that Steve ever designed for the store, and they're super cool, with classic characters on the left side and contemporary characters on the right.

The original design was lovely but painted in a very basic fashion-- the bright, primary colors you've come to expect. With this release they hired a local painter (I believe one of the guys who used to paint for Disney's high end collectibles, but Steve's not here for me to ask).

In any event, they're amazing and if you missed them the first time you can get them now. Remember Pete's Dragon? Well, this Pete's Dragon snowglobe is one of the coolest globes ever, especially because it's rare to see the stores focus on one of the less popular movies (or something that doesn't focus on Tinkerbell and the Princesses.

This is one of my favorites-- The Rescuers Snowglobe snowglobe.It's a classic scene from this wonderful film, and again it's not something you'd expect. Our friend Anna Marie, who comments from time to time, raced out and bought this one (come to think of it, she also has the original version of the bookends from above.) This one has been out for a little while so you might want to jump and get it online (right now it's running for $30 online) or hit a store very soon before it's gone.

And, finally, what would a post be without some Princesses? Every year Steve designs a Princess Snowglobe for this year. This one on the left is already super popular.

And if you're in the market for a Princess Jewelry box is here's one to check out.

I also noticed one of the Steve's MAJOR new globes is online today but I need to get to work, so I'll post it later this week. More to come...

Come with me to Napa Valley!

Last year you may recall I worked on a project with Lexus where we shot a travel video. It's about green friendly destinations in the Napa Valley.

Since today is Friday, we'd all like a vacation, and you're probably looking for something to watch to distract yourself until it's quitting time, why not check out the videos, which are now on YouTube.

The three episodes are 3-4 minutes each.
Episode 1


Episode 2


Episode 3

There are some things I would have done differently given time and resources, but I'm pretty pleased with it all around.

Enjoy and have a great weekend.