Pride and oy....

It's funny...I've been in L.A. for almost six years and I had never been to the Pride Festival in West Hollywood...until this year. I dunno why it's taken me this long. I mean, it's not that I'm not proud or there's some deep-seeded self-loathing within me...that could be farther from the truth.

I know! I think my eyes can only take seeing so many guys in buttless chaps or some other public iteration of the gluteus maximus. :-)

But seriously (no pun intended), I had quite a dandy time. A big part of it was the company. Ted and I kicked off Sunday by heading over to Keith's place which was conveniently by the parade route. There we met up with about a dozen other friends while noshing on some breakfast and mimosas. Mmm...orange juice and strawberry champagne. Yay for fruity drinks!

After we satisfied our appetites, we walked down Santa Monica Boulevard and watched the parade. Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole-Smith together (sort of) at last! L.A. mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa made an apperance and Morgan Spurlock appeared to be taping a segment for his new reality show "30 Days." And what walk through West Hollywood would be complete without playing the "whom do I recognize from online?" game? The count was at about five by the end of the morning.

After a couple of hours of checking out the parade, we all headed back to Keith's place to decompress before heading off our merry ways. Quite good timing on Ted and my part since traffic was starting to build up on the way out of Weho.

Today, I started to make my plan of attack with finding a new place to live. Plan A is to rent a house. Since paying rent on a house is the not the easiest thing to pull on one's own, I'm probably going to be rooming with my friend Scott. Took a look at a few places this evening and one was a definite no. Two were ok, but I've got a feeling we can do better. The search continues...

Some recent obsessions..."Dancing With the Stars" and "Hit Me Baby One More Time." It's like pop culture overload for my noggin. When I first watched "Dancing With the Stars" with a few friends a couple of weeks ago, I said to myself..."this is nice, but it's SO traditional...is the country really going to buy into this?" And sure enough they did! My votes have been going to Joey McIntyre and Rachel Hunter.

And "Hit Me Baby One More Time?!?" Tiffany singing Kelly Clarkson?!? Haddaway slithering across the floor singing Britney Spears' "Toxic." Vernon Kay?!? I was blown away. Perfect summer entertainment. This week's is the piece de resistance...IRENE CARA!!!! Is she going to do Fame? Is she going to do "Flashdance (What a Feeling!)?" And what about her cover song?!? Oh, why can't Thursday get here any sooner!!?

In the midst of my Ebay poking, I finally was able to track down sheet music to one of my favorite ABBA albums, "The Visitors." The book came in last week and to my pleasant surprise, it also had the sheet music to "Should I Laugh or Cry," which was a non-album track that ended up as a B-side, but nevertheless, a really, really good song. And as a result of this, I've been playing the hell out of the album on my iPod. Mmm..."When All is Said and Done" and "Two for the Price of One." SUCH a good album...