Monday, June 28, 2004
3:19 PM

Although I'm moved into my new place, a FOR RENT sign's still posted in the front lobby, complete with the spelling of a four-year-old. In that case, maybe they won't mind if my rent checks have a few numbers left out?

This is my roommate, John, in his palatial bedroom. Until his furniture, which will be most of the furniture in the entire place, gets here, he sleeps on an air mattress. And if it looks like John's sunken in a little bit, he is. There's a hole in the mattress and its whereabouts are unknown. When he touches the ground from the center of the bed, he turns on the mechanical inflater and wakes up the entire place. Or just me. At first I thought he was drying his hair for work, then I squinted at the alarm clock reading 6 a.m. and knew a bartender didn't have to be in that early. And I also remembered that he has short hair. But to his credit, the next day he at least waited 'til I got up to use the bathroom. We'll be combing the alleys for beds over the next few days. Either that or I'll have a married man in my bed.

Tanya (L) and Cyndi toast to my new place from a bottle of wine brought by Cyndi as a house warming gift. Still waiting for someone to bring by some wine glasses obviously. This is my room and virtually all of my earthly possessions, confined to a 6.5 x 12ft space. Unfortunately, I don't own either of the women - yet.

This is a picture of my place from the outside. Aside from the ugly tree in the front and the 70's-style bush, the place is awesome. Who am I kiddin'? There is no way in hell I would move into a place without shutters. How could I not take a picture of a house painted like this, sticking out like a man in a suit at the Pride parade yesterday. It's down about 10 minutes from my place and is worth the trip to visit me.

One of the biggest and most expensive omlettes I've tried to eat. So much for "no hash browns, please." Yes those are seeds, which came from a few pieces of watermelon accompanying the eminent heart failure on a plate. The diner was quite nice and one of the few places in the area that didn't require three years of Spanish to figure out what kind of place it was.

This is Nathan (L) and my godson, Gary, after their last baseball games of the season. It was Nathan's first year and Gary's fourth. Gary's team, the Elwood, Illinois Reds, won the regular season and tournament championship, going undefeated in the 7-8 year-old division. Gary's wearing his championship medal proudly. Way to go Gary and way to go Reds!!! Maybe they can teach the Cubs a thing or two about winning?