timothy j. lambert

I'm in the process of combing through my book shelves for a local holiday book drive. When it comes to books I'm a bit of a pack rat; so many books, so little time, as they say. But after browsing the first shelf even I knew there were titles that did not merit precious space in my permanent collection.

Hannibal? The Celestine Prophecy? Dieting with the Duchess?

And then there were these finds, from what I like to call my "How to Stay Single Forever" shelf.

The Boyfriend Within. Outing Yourself. Finding True Love in a Man-Eat-Man World.

Despite the fact that the cover model is wearing pleated pants, one of the books I'll be keeping is The Unofficial Gay Manual: Living the Lifestyle (or at Least Appearing to), by Kevin Dilallo & Jack Krumholtz. The book was published in 1994, and one of the stops on the authors' book tour was at the now closed Barnes & Noble bookstore in Astor Place. I know this because theirs was the first gay book signing I ever attended. Inside the book Dilallo & Krumholtz wrote:

"To David: A man of exceptional taste, especially in books."

The purging continues.

It's gray and drizzly here in New Orleans this morning. Oddly, it's not as cold as it has been in the Lost Apartment this morning; one would think, given the grayness outside, that it would be goose bump-inducing inside. One would be incorrect in that assumption, however.

I got the all-important thumbs up yesterday from Aunt Julie yesterday on the manuscript thus far; which was really good news. Needless to say, I was nervous (do authors ever get over that? If one goes by me, the answer would obviously be "no."), so I was quite relieved to get the thumbs up. However, I am beginning to fear that I am going to miss the deadline, so on Monday it looks like there will be another email to my publisher. Sigh. Not making the deadline is going to seriously fuck me up, timeline-wise, as well. However, there are several long weekends in December (huzzah), which will help enormously. Again, it's simply a matter of staying en pointe and on focus; and I can look forward to April, when Beautiful will hopefully be done as well as Blood Sacraments and I can take some serious down time.

Sigh.

Today I am off to the office, and then it's home for the LSU-Ole Miss game. I am also going to go to the gym this morning, methinks, and have to run Uptown for some errands as well. But I should be able to get some writing done this morning--after work the day is going to be spent watching college football; although I don't think there are any games tonight we want to see, so it'll be back to Wire in the Blood. Tomorrow is going to be a long-ass writing day, I fear, and I would like to get a jump-start on packing for the drive on Tuesday. I think I am going to try to get up early and get on the road early; it's much nicer to arrive in the early to mid-evening than late. I am also going to try not to smoke as much in the car on the way up there; I seem to have this mentality that it's okay to chain-smoke when I'm in the car with the end result that by the time I arrive wherever it is I am going my lungs are fried and my throat is sore and raw. Blech. I really just need to quit for good and be done with it. (I always said I would quit when I noticed averse reactions to it.)

Okay, just made an executive decision to skip the gym this morning. My legs are exhausted, and my upper body muscles are kind of achy as well. Not smart to push it, so I will take the day to let them heal and go tomorrow morning.

And now it's time for Cup o' Coffee #3; time to buckle down and get writing.

Onward and upward.

This week's theme: Vehicle


More Photo Friday here

For an update click here

• 02:44 You know I've turned super-gay when I've forgone Morrissey for Miley Cyrus - Party In The U.S.A. #
• 02:45 @MrPunk2u now? or can we wait a few days? #
• 11:56 @pornobobbie pic.gd/ff75b0 Some Morrissey hotness. #
• 12:15 argh. didn't know i was a beta tester for twitter's new retweet feature till just now. #
• 13:07 #FF @alisoncook @wilw @MrPunk2u | Delicious Cake bit.ly/2g72RV #
• 17:11 Bake potato soup simmering up on the stove. Movie and stepping out later tonight after snuggle time. #
• 20:01 After giving it much thought, I have decided to vote for @ActuallyNPH for Favorite Comedy Actor in the People's Choice Awards. #
• 22:35 @BeckyCochrane #
• 22:36 @BeckyCochrane Mysterio Skin with Jonathan Gordon-Levitt #

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To pour Coca-Cola into a glass of ice, watching it foam to the top of the glass, and pressing my face into the fresh air and nose-tickling fizz of its released carbonation, makes for a swell enough Friday night date... at least, that's what I tell myself. : )

I had all kinds of plans of what I was going to get accomplished today, number one being to get my 'reading room' organized and decluttered. I did get the dishes taken care of and the laundry done, the groceries bought, but it was a beautiful sunny day. I had 3 dogs hanging around the door, just waiting for me to get my hikers on, so I *cough* broke down and took them to the river. I have all winter to organize.

Everybody's in their place:



I'm really glad we went. It was glorious out there. It was so sunny, and really still except for the sounds of us going through the leaves on the trail. I even let them go across the road to swim when we were done walking. There aren't many more days this year that they'll be able to do that.

Without having him checked, I'm 90% sure that Jeff has H1N1; he's been trying to cough up a lung for about a week now. His temperature was normal when I checked it, so he's been hauling his ass to school every day. I figure that's where he got it, anyway. Yesterday, I asked him how he was feeling; should his dad and I look into buying more life insurance for him. Thank God he has my sense of humor and 'got' it!

This week's entry is the Two Rivers Mansion. This is where Chris and I attended the Wld West Showdown benefit for HRC from 2004-2007. It hosts an array of events throughout the year. For a more panoramic view , as well as the historic marker for the mansion

( Click here )
More shots from different angles on Flickr
Edit for Lisa & Marika:

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Okay, so this morning isn't so bad, frankly. I did sleep an extra hour, but as always that extra hour didn't do anything except make me more sleepy. I blame part of this on my alarm cat. Used to be, around seven-ish every morning I would be woken from sleep by a cat mrowring softly and smacking me in the face with a very soft paw. However, since fall began and it's become rather chilly in the Lost Apartment, he doesn't do this anymore. Instead, he gets into bed with us and curls up into a little ball around my feet somewhere and sleeps. And even when I do wake up, there's none of that feed me NOW urgency I'd become accustomed to--rather he makes a variation of the mrowr, rolls over onto his back, and wants to be petted and his head scratched. He also stays there while I brush my teeth and wash my face; however once I start down the stairs he is running ahead and making circles around the cabinet door where we keep the bag of food.

Satan's Kitty, you are fired.

I am exhausted; it's been a long week of writing, working out and work. I have to figure out sometime this weekend when I can make a minor grocery run so Paul doesn't starve while I am away next week; but not really sure when I'll be able to pull that off. It might actually have to wait until Monday; we'll see how that goes. This weekend is also going to be rather rough; I have to go into the office tomorrow, want to work out both days, and of course have a shitload of writing to do. Somehow I always manage to get everything done; but that doesn't make it any less stressful and/or exhausting for me. And while my friends are always very supportive and always point out that somehow I manage to always get everything done, that doesn't alleviate the terror that what if this is the time I don't?

It goes without saying that the Lost Apartment is disgustingly filthy.

The revision is going really well though, if slower than I would prefer.

At some point this weekend I also need to pack.

Heavy heaving sigh. I want to be lazy!

Ah, well, I suppose there's time for that once this book is finished, I reckon.

There's always tomorrow. If there is one, that is.