Still alive

I swear I'm still alive. I've just been very busy between work, moving, friends and school starting. I'll be writing a better post this week and hopefully I'll get back into my normal writing routine next week.

Nick

Hilarious Coming Out Article

Check out this article in The Onion...

Mom and Dad I'm gay and also stronger than both of you

Still Alive

I swear that I'm still alive! Nothing has really happened this summer to report and I didn't want to bore anyone with my same exact routine day after day. I'm officially back in LA and I'm couch hopping until I can move into my new apartment next month. Of course, the weather is beautiful here. While the rest of the country is in the midst of a heat wave, it's 80 and perfect here. The weather can be a blessing and curse. It's really very nice but it gets old sometimes but I can't really complain right now!

I'm going to get back to writing more often on here because I have a feeling life is going to pick back up very soon. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Torches by Foster and the People - listen to the whole album

Nick

Happy Father's Day

So far, my summer at home has involved a whole lot of sitting around and doing nothing, thus the lack of posts. I literally do the same thing everyday: read, eat, watch TV, go running and take my little brother to soccer practice. It has been pretty nice weather the past week but, of course, on Father's Day it's raining cats and dogs.

Currently, my family is at church so I am watching The Devil Wears Prada. I've seen it way too many times but I love the movie. Something about it just makes me happy. It's really nice to have the house quiet and just watch a movie with the thunderstorm outside. When my family gets back, we are going to have an early dinner (steak and potatoes and fruit yum!) and chill for the rest of the day. Simple Father's Days are the best.

Since nothing interesting is going on in my life at the moment, I'd love any suggestions of things you'd like to see me write about!

Snow Patrol
   Listen to everything they've put out. It's all really great and perfect for a more relaxing Sunday

Nick

Best Billboard Ever

We saw this on our way down through Southern Utah to Lake Powell and we had to stop and take a picture with the sign. The billboard itself is awesome but given that it's in a tiny (like 150 residents) town in the middle of nowhere Utah, aka super Mormon, makes it that much better.

The lake was really amazing. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth and I had a really great time. We stayed on a friends houseboat and boated, wakeboarded, tubed, swam, hiked and used the wave runners the whole week. I got really tan haha which was a goal of mine and ate way too much delicious food. Overall, it was a nice, relaxing, fun-filled week down at the lake and as soon as my friends load the pictures on facebook, I'lll be sure to post some to show the beauty of the lake.

Nick

Nothing to do

Holy shit, I am bored. I am waiting on my neighbor to get me a job so I literally just sit at home all day. I do chores and workout and lay outside and that's all. I'm the kind of person that can't just stay still and enjoy down time. I have to be busy or else I go crazy and that's why I want a summer job so bad. I'm going to Lake Powell this weekend so that will be fun. Hopefully when I return, I'll have a full time job and my summer will fly by because I miss my bf and want to get back to LA.

I'm also looking to read a lot this summer so I'd love suggestions on any great books!

Nick

And I'm back

New York was pretty amazing. We didn't get to do any of the typical touristy things but I still had a great time. I went with my boyfriend and we stayed with his friend and essentially spent the weekend like a regular New Yorker. Getting there was such a hassle, my flights (3!) got canceled while in DC and I had to take a cab from Dulles to DC and then a 5 hour bus from DC to NYC at 5am, but when I got into the city, it was great. We went to the roof of the apartment building and watched the sunrise. Even though I was tired and stressed, the sunrise with my bf made everything better.

We went to a few bars on the Lower East Side and SoHo and had some fantastic food! Food was probably my favorite part of the trip haha On Saturday, we went to brunch with unlimited drinks and a drag show. Since Saturday was the supposed "end of the world," all the music was themed as if the world was ending. It was really cool to just sit for a few hours, drink and talk with friends.

The one touristy thing we did was to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. The entire weekend was rainy so we didn't have the best views but it was still really cool. It was the only time my bf and I were alone so it was our own mini-date. The one bummer was when we lost our friend because his phone died and we were stranded on the LES but it ended up being a good time. We found a small, random bar and stayed there for a few hours. We just talked and really enjoyed our time together.

Overall, I loved the city. I want to go back, again, and do all of the touristy things. Hopefully the weather will be better next time! Now I'm back in SLC searching for a job, which is very hard because nobody wants to hire for only 2 months. I'm going to Lake Powell next weekend so that's something to look forward to. It's one of my favorite places on earth so that will be an awesome trip. It's perfect to just boat, wake board, swim and tan.

Young Blood by The Naked and Famous

Nick

Vegas and home

Sorry for the delay between posts. It's been a crazy week. Besides the boring packing and cleaning, I left LA on Saturday and went to Vegas. I haven't been to Vegas since I turned 21 so I was very excited to go, even if it was only for 1 night. We stayed at the Aria in the suites and wow, our room was beyond amazing. The views were fantastic, 52nd floor, and the bathroom was beyond epic haha

View from the room

We started drinking the second we arrived then walked around the Strip for a bit before getting dinner and getting ready for the night. We made our way over to the Mirage to meet another group of friends, drank some more and took some limos to the club XS. The line to get in the club wasn't that bad and for some odd reason, the bouncer let us cut in line and pay a lower cover than everyone else. Hooray for having hot girls in the group! The club was...epic. It was inside and outside, with a pool, and we all had a really great time. The dance floor was really packed so we decided to dance in the pool, shallow end of course, and it was the best decision we made all night!

Outside pool at XS

We got back to our hotel at 5am and slept til 10am and then left. My friends drove back to LA and I drove, alone, to Salt Lake City. I was really tired but it wasn't that bad of a drive, besides the wind. Overall, I had a great time on my mini-vacation. Definitely worth taking a trip out to Vegas, especially if you have never been before.

Now, I'm eating delicious chinese food and watching Family Guy. I leave for New York on Thursday and I'm beyond excited for that trip! I'll be sure to update when I get back.

Nick

Sigh of relief

Like I said, I'm done with school. It's awesome but it feels weird to not have homework in the back of my mind. Can't complain about that though! Now I just have a few more days of work then I'm headed home, to Utah, for the summer. I have mixed feelings about going home. It'll be nice to see my family but I just wish I could be in LA or NYC or somewhere working. Oh well.

Anyways, the next two weeks are going to be pretty amazing. I'm going to Vegas this coming weekend and NYC the weekend after that. I'm stoked. Both are going to be crazy, especially Vegas haha, and I'll be sure to take plenty of pics. It'll be a great way to start my Senior summer.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day today. It's times like these that I am sad I don't live closer to home so I can have family dinner but I'll be home in a week so it's all chill.

Nick

I'm a Senior!

My excitement

These past couple of weeks have been insane and I haven't really had the chance to post in a while but it's all been worth it because I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL AND I'M A COLLEGE SENIOR! Oh, and the Lakers lost so today is essentially the greatest day ever (only partially kidding)!

In other news, I'm going to be in NYC in two weeks and I need a suggestion for something to do when I get in on Thursday afternoon. I'll have from about 4-7pm free and I have no idea what to do so any suggestions would be awesome! I also would love food and bar recommendations. Pretty much anything you guys think I should check out. These next two weeks better fly by because I'm impatient like no other and I just want to be on vacation haha

Nick

Busiest. Week. Ever

Sorry for not posting in a few days. This has probably been the busiest week of my life and it's still going. I'm just woke up from a nap but I'm going right back to sleep (I've had 12 hours combined since Saturday night) but I had to post this because it's pretty much the best thing in the entire world...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 trailer

Watch it this instance, it'll change your life.

I'm hoping to be a better poster come this weekend when I finish all my writing assignments. Then I'll be a freaking college senior. That's weird to think about but also something that I've wanted for a very, very long time. Off to sleep with the aid of nyquil...

Nick

Top 5 hottest guys in the NBA

NBA playoffs have already started so I figured I'd post the 5 hottest guys, in my opinion, in the NBA.  I have the biggest crush on Danilo Gallinari. He's Italian, buff, athletic and so so so HOT

1. Danilo Gallinari

2. Joe Alexander

3. JJ Reddick

4. Landry Fields

5. Chris Paul

Nick

Da club

It's rather late and I'm really, really tired but I can't sleep. Isn't it weird that when you're the most tired you can't sleep? Well I went to the club/bar tonight. I don't like going to this particular club, Tigerheat, but my friend wanted to go so I went along. The night started off pretty damn bad: this kid's car got towed, the freeway was closed, I got separated from my friends in line and when I finally got in, the dance floor was closed. I was about to call it a night but I got in to the dance floor and found my friends. From there it was a blast. I finally mustered up the courage to ask a guy to dance and I had a great time. If you couldn't tell from my music selections, I love dance music and I love to dance. The music was pretty good tonight and I danced the night away. I started dancing with one guy but he went to UCLA and when he found out I went to USC he got all weird and walked away. I didn't know rivalries were so prolific in the gay community haha After that I was dancing with my friends when a cute guy started dancing next to us so I asked him to dance and we ended up dancing/making out the rest of the night. I've never made out with a random guy at a club or bar so it was a new experience for me and it was pretty fun! Anyways, I should get to bed. I need to get up in a few hours for work and I get really bitchy if I don't get enough sleep haha I'll update y'all tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Nick

GLAAD Awards

2 of my designs for class. The blue is layered squares and is much cooler in person

Yesterday I got to attend the GLAAD Media Awards here in LA and it was actually really awesome. I helped set up the auction stuff and helped run the Live Auction during the show. Out of the 5 prizes auctioned 2 of the winners were mine and they donated $24,000! I was happy haha Besides that I watched the red carpet (it was actually blue carpet) and people watched. I'm not really that into celebrities but it was cool to see them and how everyone went crazy when certain actors/actresses came into the room.

The tickets to the show are pretty expensive and I imagine the crowd to be full of older, wealthy gays and lesbians but I was so wrong. The crowd was actually pretty damn hot! On the red carpet I was half watching the celebs and half watching all the "normal" guys in the room. I felt weird just standing alone but I didn't really care which is totally not me usually I am with friends. Overall it was a really good experience. I met people who worked in the advertising industry and networked a bit and for one Sunday afternoon, I feel like I was a successful working guy having a great time.

Nick

P.S. For my design class I have to redesign the album cover of any band. If you have any suggestions of albums that you don't think reflect the tone of the musician or album I'd love to hear! 

Lakers lost, Jazz won

I always love when the Lakers lose especially when it's to the Jazz! The Lakers are the only team that I actually want to lose games. I walked in the door, from class, and my roommate immediately told me how much he hates the Jazz. It's the only sports thing we disagree on, we are pretty compatible on everything else.

Anyways, I went to the doctor today and it turns out I don't have the flu! It's bronchitis haha Every year I get either pheumonia or bronchitis so I'm used to it but it's still not fun. She gave me antibiotics and cough pills and if you chew the cough pills they will make your mouth go numb. Strange side effect for a cough medicine. I stayed home from my internship today less out of feeling sick but it's pretty embarrassing to cough every 5 seconds and have everyone stare at you while your typing. I slept til 12 then went to the doctors then class. Right before class I remembered that I had forgotten to eat today. I never forget to eat so it was kinda weird but I rushed to Subway after class and had a delicious Italian BMT.

I'm in the midst of planning a trip to NYC after school ends in May. I've never been there before so I'm really really excited! If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear any and everything you have to say. I plan to move there after graduation so I figure I need to visit at least once before I move there haha I just need to convince my parents to pay for the flight and I'll be all set.

TRON: Legacy Reconfigured - It's the Tron soundtrack by Daft Punk but each song has been remixed by other DJs. It's pretty damn rad if you ask me. Check it out

Nick

100th post!

I'm finally feeling better. I've had the flu for the past week and it pretty much knocked me on my ass. I really can't believe that it's my 100th post! I've been writing on here since last June and it's really been great to express myself and hear what you all have had to say. I really appreciate all of your comments and reads and I hope to only grow from here.

For this special post I wanted to write about a conference I attended on Wednesday. One of the speakers runs the blog Tiny Buddha and gave some really awesome tips on how to write. I took special interest in her pointers because I want to connect more with the readers on this blog and I want to work at a magazine after college. Here are her three tips for writing a more personal blog:

1. Share yourself authentically. Up until this point I have mainly been summarizing my everyday life, which is fine, but I'd really like to dig deep and reveal what I'm thinking and make what I have to say unique. A person leads a community and I want to be that leader.

2. Release your need to control the conversation. Instead of controlling what people are saying, introduce the subject and let things flow from there. Too often writers try to steer their writings in certain ways that only they can understand or appreciate. I want to write something and let you all decide how to interpret things.

3. Focus on providing value rather than growth. So far I've been chronicling my growth through college and defining myself as an adult and a gay man. I will still definitely focus on growth but I also want to write on what these discoveries mean to me. Instead of simply recapping what is happening, I'd like to explain how I am using my experiences to grow and ultimately define myself.

I also had the pleasure of listening to Hank Wasiak, co-founder of The Concept Farm, and he had three inspiring quotes that I want to strive to live my life by. They are simple yet can make profound differences in how you manage yourself.

"Forget perfection, pursue progress."
"Admire openly and often. Who is on your Mt. Rushmore?"
"Find your mighty cause."

Too often I find myself striving only for perfection and I am disappointed when I can't achieve it. Dreaming of perfection is great but I want to focus my attention on progress and how I am growing and how to continue to positively progress through life.

I thought this post, being my 100th, was the perfect place to make a few changes in how I write. I am going to try to implement these new ideas into my writing and hopefully I'll be able to truly connect on a new level with you all and all of you will get a better understanding of who I am.

Nick

Sick

I've had a cold the past few days so I blame the sickness for the lack of posts. I'm just going to rest today so I can feel better for tomorrow. My next post is my 100th so I'll make it extra special!

Nick

March Madness - Sweet 16

I know it's a little late but I thought I'd do a fun take on March Madness. For each matchup I'll pick the team I think will win and I'll also include the cutest guy on the winning team. I'll do one for the Elite 8, Final Four and the final. Let's go!

Ohio St. vs Kentucky
Winner: Ohio St. - Aaron Craft. Not the best looking team


UNC vs Marquette
Winner: UNC - Patrick Crouch


Kansas vs Richmond
Winner: Kansas - Jordan Juenemann


VCU vs Florida St.
Winner: FSU - Luke Loucks


Duke vs Arizona
Winner: Duke - Casey Peters


UConn vs SDSU
Winner: UConn - Kyle Bailey. Not cute team


Butler vs Wisconsin
Winner: Wisconsin- Ben Brust


BYU vs Florida
Winner: Florida - Cody Larson


Nick

Gaydar

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I have an incredibly horrible gaydar. Besides the obviously gay guys, I can never tell who is gay or straight and last night was no different. We were at a restaurant with a group of friends and our waiter was pretty cute. He acted straight so I didn't think anything of it until I asked him a question and he put his hand on my back and leaned in to tell me where the bathroom was. I thought he was just doing it because it was a bit noisy but all of my friends stared at me and said the waiter was hitting on me. I didn't really think anything of it but maybe he was? It's instances like these that I wish everybody had a little TV above their head that displayed who that person is and what they want.

After dinner we went to The Frolic Room for drinks. We had never been there but it sounded interesting so we checked it out. Little did we know that it was about the size of my bedroom and we were the youngest in the bar by 20 years haha We went next door to this really cool Irish pub and had a great time. It was a huge area with good music and plenty of tables, a big ass bar and some games.

When we got back we were will pretty drunk so we proceded to try and do the shuffle from the new LMFAO music video. Let me tell you, it was really freaking hard! We had a blast though and it was a great way to end the night. Thank god my friends are finally 21 so we can go out and enjoy!

Nick

Running again

I am in love

I started running again yesterday and holy shit are my legs sore today. I hurt my knee back in November and it's just starting to feel better so I decided to do a short run. I actually like being sore though. It makes me feel like I accomplished something.

In other news, nothing has been going on lately haha I went to a super hipster gastropub last night, Würstkuche, in Little Tokyo. It was actually pretty cool, had a great atmosphere and a huge selection of beers! Hipster guys are very confusing. I can never tell if they are gay or just really hipster. It's an eternal confusion.

Anyways, I know this is a lame post but I have to get ready for tonight. It's Cat Lady's birthday (she doesn't like that name so I've changed it to Beth) and we are going to dinner then some bars after. Should be a really fun night.

Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Nick