what a night!

i'm not the only one who has said this... but last night had to be one of the best nights ever. everyone was out, everyone had a great time... it was great.

joshua and his friends... the regulars, tim, tom, wendell, christine... all of us just having a merry ole' time.

i have a blister on my big toe from dancing, though. ow!

one t

so it was my birthday...

this year has to be one of the best years ever for my birthday celebration. first of all, it's still going...

i didn't get wasted every night but i drank my fair share of adult beverages. the gifts i got, though, were awesome.

they were, and in no order of importance...

several shirts (leslee and jessica), new tires (wendell and tim), dave matthews band concert (tim), free hotel at the opry land resort (tim k.), autographed jeff francouer baseball with his original number 12 (christine), two commissioned art pieces (one from tom, one from lee), a "video" and accessories (joshua), ikea gift card (james), cash (matt)... i hope that i haven't forgotten anything... you know my memory, though.

i think some people still have gifts for me, they just haven't given them to me! ; )~

one t

doublemint gum...

traffic was hell and i didn't get home until almost five minutes before we were supposed to be seated at agatha's. such is life in the city, though.

james, joshua, wendell, matt, tim, tom and i all made it... christine was at home nursing what i believe was an aching butt since she very manly ate more than twenty jalepenos the night prior (tim ate less...).

we were all given parts in the theatre. mine, as luck would have it, was the first. it turned out to be a doublemint gum commercial, though, so it wasn't too hard. i just had to interrupt the actor with, "hey, look! it's the doublemint gum girls. you got any gum for me today?"

i don't know what they said... i was a bit nervous. but then they asked if i wanted to ride on their handlebars. i had to politely decline since i was "married." inside joke.

from there, we went to halo to wish brandon a happy birthday, too. he's much older, somewhere in his thirties. : )

we then crossed town to burkharts and the amorettes show. that's always a trip.

i think we went to burkharts???

it's rainin'

the sky just fell... in atlanta, that not only means it's wet but means also that traffic is going to be a bitch. i have to get home (i don't leave dunwoody until six), shower, change and be at agatha's by 7:15. i'm going to be pushing it.

we're doing a food drive at work and accepting donations for the atlanta food bank. i've been busy working on that so if you want to help out, let me know. we need money and food to meet our goal.

joshua, wendell, tom and i went out last night for a pre-birthday bash. i had a couple free drinks... and plan to go back to those same bars and get a couple more. more for your money, right?

i have to stop by halo, though, and see my favorite dj brandon sutton... he has my birthday... just a few years before.

i'm going to smoke.

one t

happy birthday to me!!!

several people have already called this morning to wish me a happy birthday but i just got a huge surprise...

my mom called. i didn't answer but she left the message, "mat, this is your mama. happy birthday. i love you."

that's a good birthday present.

a night out on the town... stuck in a car

i am not sure where to start about this one... the night was silly, but fun. boring but alright. short but long...

i had to work so i didn't get home until after six. all the girls were at the mall so i took the chance to nap. around ten when they finally showed up, the racously awoke me.

we headed out to buckhead but quickly got stuck on seventy-five. i got off at peachtree and was -- you guessed it -- once again stuck in traffic. we made it into buckhead near midnight and was stuck for about twenty minutes for two blocks so we headed back to the highlands.

little note here... the highlands are less than three minutes from my house and was were i originally suggested we go...

anyway, after a u-turn or shortly prior, lauren decides she's gotta go, gotta go right now. for future reference, there are no convenience stores with public restrooms anywhere along the stretch from brio to piedmont hospital on peachtree. i know because we stopped at four hundred of them.

finally at cvs, she found one. it's on aisle thirteen, by the way.

hand-in-hand was the destination from there and we were welcomed around one-thirty, just an hour before last call.

sunday was not too eventful. just lunch and backrubs at merry mac's then a vain trip to the mall.

it was a lot of fun... just the start to what is becoming to be a tradition of a birthday week instead of one day.

man the life you live when you're "living the high life".

one t

brazilian meat and v.i.p.

it's wonderful when you begin celebrating your birthday a week early. such is true this year as i started last night.

leslee is in town with her friend lauren. jessica's birthday is this weekend so she is in town, too. of course mr. tennessee lee is here and the old faithfuls wendell, tim and christine are always near. all of us went out last night to pop the cork on what is sure to be a fabulous week.

lee took jessica to spice for a more intimate dinner... the rest of us went to fogo de chao. man, was it amazing! the restaurant is a brazilian steak house that is very fast paced. you begin with drinks, of course! then on to a spread of a salad bar... enough to make the starved full.

once you realize, "oh shit, i'm beginning to eat too much," you're brought another plate for the main course.

this is the time when that little disc on the table becomes a weapon. what appears to be a coaster is actually a signaling device for the chefs... they're called something but i'm not brazillian and was too mesmerized by the servers eyes to remember what he said. the chefs are walking throughout the dining room at all times. when they see green, they swarm in like killer bees on prey.

sausage... lamb... filet mignon... anything you want. it could easily fall off the bone it's cooked so perfectly, instead is sliced right into your plate.

the aroma and action can steal your attention like a new york pick pocketer and cause you to be surrounded by six or seven stabs of meat.

we quickly learned how to pace ourselves... and be cautious when we turned over that disc.

from there we met up with lee and jessica at hoe downs for some foot stompin' good times. haha. lauren had never been to a gay bar... leslee had never been to that one. of course, poor lee thinks he's been to every one in atlanta but he's always a good sport.

we had a blast... tim, leslee and i danced while the others held up the rail. talking, of course. but it was good times.

from there we were going to meet michelle at front page but there was way too much traffic and cops blocking roads so we headed up to northside to swinging richards, the largest male strip club in the nation. it was leslee's idea, i sware.

of course the first person we saw was chase. it was nice to see him... for about five seconds. according to him, he had on five hundred dollar sandals and twenty-three thousand dollars from his father. i took it for a while until he offended everyone at the table then asked him to leave.

it wasn't until i punched him in the face and layed him out across the stage that he took my advice.

meanwhile, we drank, tipped the dancers. leslee got about fifty lap dances... lauren had her share, too. eventually, one of the dancers took leslee and me into the v.i.p. nothing happened.

we then came home, met lee and jessica again, talked for a while then crashed in our respective places of rest... i'm working now and until five when it will all start again.

we're supposed to go into the highlands or buckhead but lauren and leslee are revved up about going back to northside drive...

i'll have more information as it becomes available...

one t

dave matthews band!

last night, i guess, was the first of what i'm sure will be many birthday gifts. the brainstorming of wendell and tim landed me in nashville, tennessee (antioch, actually) at the starwood ampitheatre to see none other than dave matthews!

the concert was absolutely awesome! crash, my favorite song, was the third he played. the seats were amazing, too. stage left, about the thirteenth row (my lucky number) seat seven (my other lucky number).

following the concert, which ended around ten or so, we headed into music city to take in a bit of their nightlife. we had full itnentions of staying a bit then driving the three hours back to atlanta. we just got back around six.

we headed to tribe, which proved boring to me and almost put me to sleep. wendell found a friend and chatted him up for a bit about the agenda for the remainder of the evening. his suggestion as well as raven's was play so we headed next door.

they had what they called a drag show but it turned out to be more of a lip-syncing men-dressed-as-women fiasco.

but the dance floor was hopping and so was i. we danced among the crowd -- wendell real closely between a few -- for hours.

once we got tired, i asked a guy i met about a hotel and where he reccommended we stay. he walked away and then back with his business card and told me everything was arranged in my name to stay at the opryland hotel and resort... free.

i tried to pay but he wouldn't let us. just asked that we return the favor when he visits atlanta somehow.

the place and the accomodations were amazing! very nice! thanks, btw, tim, if you read this.

we're about to go move wendell's stuff into his loft. jessica, lee, leslee and some more friends will be in town this weekend for the first of two weekend celebrations for my birthday. my e-mail address is, of course, mathew@mathewwithonet.net. e-mail me and i'll give you the mailing address for the card and gift you've alrady bought... ; )~

until next time chicks and dicks, this is one t.

just another day

i haven't seen this office so slow since i began working. we're in training this week so there's only three people in the office in the morning and the same in the afternoon. normally, it takes all six of us to handle the load. it's a nice change of pace, though. i've gotten caught up on most of my work!

there was another baseball game this weekend. and there was another homerun hit by little mr. jeff... this time a two run homer. we lost but the effort was amazing. i even started the chant, "let's go julio. clap, clap... clap-clap-clap" it was fun. even after people started staring. they soon followed as everyone should. mortals.

i took raven to augusta this weekend. the clun there is really tiny but was a fun atmosphere. very nice. lee and jessica met me there then came to atlanta for the game on sunday. we all went to joe's for beer and wings afterwards. i wish i had some right now, thinking about it.

hmm... what to say, doc? What to say? nuttin.

one t

best game ever!!!

so there we were... tim, christine, myself and wendell. we could smell the grass. notice the chips of paint missing off the dugout. hear the cheers from the visiting team. actually see wrinkles on the face of the third base coach.

and that was just the beginning.

we were at the braves game, the last of a four game series, the second i attended and third wendell and christine had witnessed. the stormy weather forced a u-turn wednesday and a day-night double header yesterday.

there's a new guy on the team they call jeff franceour. just a all-american gwinnett county boy. right up the road, here. he's as handsome as tom cruise and has the body of batman. a smile that could charm him right into the hearts of anyone he so chooses.

we - meaning the thirty-four thousand people at turner field - greeted him with a standing ovation at his first-ever at bat. even after striking out, we did the same thing for his second. and on his third, christine and i worked some voodoo.

we mentioned casually how awesome it would be, especially after two tough strike-outs, it would be for our newest brave to make his debut with a homerun. i told her i'd visualize it in my head so it'd happen.

i just honestly turned around and watched the game, only a fleating moment of thought to a homerun but still the happily ever after thought was there.

did you see the game??? oh my baseball god! the boy - he's a man, yet still a boy - was down in the count. worked the pitcher into a full count. then... then, he slices the ball right into center field, just above the wall. three run homer! that was right before our eyes. amazing.

this was absolutely the best game ever... so much so that i had tears in my eyes thinking about it this morning on the way to work. i have tears now. how all-american? how amazing must he feel? his family? girlfriend? neighbors? strangers like me?

growing up, i always loved baseball. i still do. i would almost sale my soul to have been able to step in his shoes for just that five minutes last night. i probably would have sold my soul if i can have been in his shoes when his dad hugged him afterwards.

one t

wow, what a weekend

happy post-fourth of july. what a blast! (pun intended). a parade, tailgating and a braves game... you can't get too much more all american.

you can get knocked back down to size, though, as i did last night. seems when you want something you can't have it. sa la vie, though, right? when you quit looking, it's supposed to come. that's what they say. but i haven't been 'looking' in a year, now. who's right and who's wrong here?

the world turns and the sun shines. more often than not, i'm in the shade.

one t

fourth of july weekend...

why are we working today?? who is not sitting by a pool right now, adult beverage in hand or at least chilling, maybe some watermelon, a grill smoldering with the smell of hickory... and here i am. working. blah.

just as well... i need the money.

jessica and lee had dinner with me last night. i had two soft tacos and a pitcher of margaritas. haha. wendell was supposed to share it but ended up drinking only one. lee tried to douse our neighbor with his corona. it was a good time. congrats to him, by the way, on his new place!

james left last night for ohio. he and kassy got caught with weather delays. she was supposed to eat with me at eight -- i cooked homemade spaghetti -- but she didn't end up landing in atlanta until later. she still ate. i hope she's still alive... haha.

i think that i am going to watch the fourth of july parade this weekend. i've been in atlanta for years and have never seen it. i've caught it on tv a couple times but never been. and i love a parade, especially when there are lots of bands...

work is still going well. i still love it. the afternoon commute home can be a bit tiring on some days but, hey , that's atlanta.

more later.
one t

sex offender among us...

i am in an extremely weird state-of-mind right now. i've just found out that charles derek evans, a registered sex offender, lives a floor below me. his offense: sexual assault on a child.

i dont' want to live near him.

his crime is recent, within a matter of years. why he is living in a secured building and not a locked prison is beyond me.

i've been told by several that i have no right to feel the way i do. he may be moving on with his life, they say. even the property management considers him a "good resident" and basically have told me to get over a child molestor being my neighbor!

what???

i don't fear for my own safety. however, there are children in that building. these people are rarely, if ever, rehabilitated. who knows what he has inside his home. a computer full of child porn? videos? the imagination is endless.

so, i'm considering moving since legally there is nothing that can be done to make him move.

before i do though, i've consulted a fulton county policeman and i plan to canvass the neighborhood with a flyer that states his is a registered sex offender and lives in their building.

maybe that will make the psycho leave and crawl under a rock, where i believe he belongs.