Happy Holiday Greetings 2007-2008

Sean & Bill

Birdie, Besi, & Sean

From my family to yours,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!
Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo!
Joyeux Noël et Une Bonne Année!
Have a Nelly little X'mas and a Happy New Queer!...

Make the Yuletide Gay!
Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Kwanzaa!
Happy Boxing Day!
Advanced Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Philippine Idol

Forget American Idol, check this out!
For the sake of my non-Filipino friends and/or for those who were not aware of this,
I wanted to share two talented Filipino singers who have recently been discovered by America via Youtube:

Presenting Arnel Pineda! As the lead singer of The Zoo, a cover band from the Philippines, he was discovered by Journey's guitarist, Neal Schon in YouTube. Journey was in search of a new lead singer and flew Arnel to the U.S. to audition. In early December, the band announced that the talented Filipino is the new front man for the New Journey.
You'll be amazed at how he sounds so much like Steve Perry.
For more info, click on the band's website and here and here.
Here is one of their videos that helped Arnel be discovered:



Presenting Charice Pempengco, a 15-year old girl from the Philippines
performing at "The Ellen DeGeneres Show":

London Calling - Missed Call/Bad Connection

Please click on the title to be directed to the posting.

Saba - The Unspoiled Queen

Please click on the title to be directed to the posting.

iPostcards from Saint Martin/Sint Maarten

We're back!

Had a fabulous time!

Please click on the following destinations to be directed to the specific posting:

La Samanna, Saint Martin, French West Indies

Isle Pinel, French West Indies

Marigot, Saint Martin, French West Indies

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles

Paparazzo of the Caribbean

iPostcards from New York, NY - Winter 2007

Please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

Baby Got Back!

A few days before we left for NYC, while getting ready for work, I caught a glimpse of this couple on The Today Show giving a live performance of their first wedding dance, which has been a very popular video posting all over the web.

During the intermission of Legally Blonde, I got to chat with the lovely couple beside me. It was their first time to visit the Big Apple. When I asked what brought them to the city, I soon realized that they were that same couple on TV! The Today Show flew them in for an all expense paid trip to tour the city and to appear on their show. They were very nice and I could tell they were a fun couple, who knew how to laugh at themselves. My kind of people.

In case you have not seen the video, here is John and Michelle Brubaker and their wedding dance to "Baby Got Back," which has been seen by more than 3 million people on YouTube.

Out on my vaca-SEAN/SABA-tical DEC07

I will be out of town on my

vaca-SEAN/SABA-tical
in New York City,

Saint Martin, Sint Maarten,

Saba,

and London

from 07DEC07-17DEC07.
In case of emergency,

please contact my manager/agent/publicist.

Happy Hanukkah 2007!

Wearing a yamaka for the first time for Hanukkah/Chanukah.

To all my Jewish friends, "Happy Hanukkah!"

A Different Coming Out of the Closet

OK, I admit it, I am a "pack rat". I have the tendency to keep almost every single little thing I come across in my life. This, of course, drives my super neat freak partner bananas.
Well, since we have been practically living out of boxes for the past several weeks, due to moving/storing most of our stuff for the painting of the inside of the house, I figured this would be the best time to admit myself to my own version of "pack rat rehab".
I did it! In the course of several days, I finally learned to let go of a lot of my personal junk and donate them to thrift shops. I came out of my closet and cleaned it out. Included in the several trash bags were very old clothes that I had brought with me on my move to the U.S. more than 12 years ago. I think, the clincher in letting go was when I discovered that I could no longer fit into all my size 28-inch waistline jeans. Waaahhh! LOL

Happy Thanksgiving 2007!

Spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Palm Springs with my B's:

Me and my bitches,

my dogs, Besi & Birdie

***

Me and my biatches,

two of my best buds, Jojo & Caloy

Moderate Makeover: Home Edition

Since both of us now work from home, last August, we entertained the idea of moving out of Los Angeles for a change of scenery. After a month of deliberation, we figured an interior makeover of our house would seal the deal to keep us here and postpone any further thoughts of moving in the near future.
Well, a makeover that was supposed to take only 2-weeks while we were traveling, is finally finished after a month over the due date. We are quite happy with the changes, but unfortunately, we are left drained and traumatized with our "living with toxins and in paranoia" experience with our first painter/artist. We had to hire a real painter to redo the walls and ceilings. After living in our dream home that we designed and built 9 years ago, we finally changed the old carpet to new carpet/hardwood, the living room sofa, and the interior paint. During the building process, the idea for keeping the interior color white/neutral was for resale purposes. Now it felt right to give a splash of soothing colors. With this moderate makeover, I can say we are definitely not moving for quite a long while.

Here are some before and after pictures
(double click on pic to enlarge):

blue front door painted to look like natural wood finish
and painted to look like bordered with mosaic tile:













changed living room from carpet to hardwood floor:












from a navy blue to cactus green custom-made sofa:












living room before & after:



















fireplace painted to look like marble:













ceiling painted to match the blue sky:



















new carpet to match the earth:













bedroom entrance changed from carpet to hardwood:












master's bedroom painted to
some brushed watchamakalit puke green:





































fountain painted to look like marble:













my office painted to more earthy tones:













guestroom painted to some kinda of Frenchy blue
and the bathroom painted to look like it was wall-papered:


































powder room made to look like your inside an aquarium:

Living with Toxins and in Paranoia

Just me...grumbling about our frustrations

and traumatic experience with this eccentric painter,

we had hired to paint our house, while we were traveling,

who apparently had some kind of unknown skin disease,

and failed to inform us about it

prior to our invitation to live in the house during the project.

Southern California is Burning!

We are surrounded but fortunately far from all the fires plaguing Southern California.

Let us pray for the safety and recovery of all of those affected.

view of the glow of the fires in Malibu from our rooftop

"While You Were Traveling"

Whenever we travel, we are lucky to have my sister and niece house-sit and dog-sit for us. We always would tell them that if anything negative should happen, to just try to take care of the problem and not disturb us while we are on our vacation.
Since we had decided not to move out of L.A. at this time, we decided to have the interior of the house painted with a new color scheme. Our friend, Candy, had recommended her painter, Bob. Bob is more of an artist, since he specializes in faux decorative painting. He could make a drywall look like marble/wood/tile, etc. After our initial meetings with him, we suspected that he was homeless and living out of his car. He also kept offering to take care of the dogs. Since the house was going to have paint all over, we obviously could not host my family to live in it. We also got the feeling that Bob might spend most of his time in the house anyway. Thus, we decided to have him stay in the house to paint, take care of the house, plants, and dogs.

BIG MISTAKE!
The following our pics our friends, Candy, Ming, and Nancee took of how our normally orderly and clean house looked like while we were away. They had to empty out the refrigerator of exposed uncooked bloody meat and rescue our babies who had no room to lie down or get to their food and water.

our bedroom

pie plates on the carpet and

painting/art work exposed while ceiling was being painted

crap all over the bathroom

I can't even tell where this is

my office

poor plants

"Yes, we were planning to replace the carpet,
but not right away!"

Candy brought in her maids to disinfect the kitchen

45 minutes of hard scrubbing of the countertop

the living room

the dining room

the deck - what a mess!