I had just split up with my first partner. I moved into a brand new apartment complex in Mesa, AZ called Crestwood. Very brutal architecture for 1984, no?
Madonna hadn't even released Like a Virgin yet.
I ended up getting the exact unit I wanted, top floor end unit. Not surprising considering most of the apartments in this part of the complex were still empty. As I recall my rent was $300/month for a one-bedroom. Imagine that.
Lots of interesting adventures while I lived there. That's all I'm gonna share right now.
I suppose it does look like a 25-year-old's apartment…
The only things I still have in this picture are the two paintings, the poster (rolled up in a tube somewhere I think), and the antique lamp. The lamp is no longer in use because it needs to be rewired. Another project for retirement, I guess!
And it also happened to be Dog Day at the Desert Botanical Gardens. As promised, some photos taken with my old DSLR that I got out of storage a few days ago…
Afterward we went to our usual dog park so he could play with some other dogs since they were all on their best behavior at the DBG.
I pulled my old workhorse out of storage yesterday. It hasn't been used since…2016? The battery is on death's door (it took overnight to charge), but it's still alive and I have a new one on order. One of the things I wanted to do once retirement hit was to get back into my old hobby. Yeah, the iPhone camera is fine, but sometimes you just need to go "old" school.
About a week before the New Year I was going to post a "Year in Pictures" thingie, but after I selected the images I realized that so many of them were of Sammy and I just…couldn't. His passing was still too fresh. I mentioned this to Ben and he said I should create the post for precisely that reason because Sammy was such a big part our lives.
Well, it's been a couple weeks since I gathered the photos together and after thinking it over, I think it's time.
"Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you." ~ Richard Bach, from The Messiah's Handbook
…this one is undoubtedly one of my favorites. Sony was definitely at the top of their design game in the 90s and 00s, not only with Minidisc, but also with portable CD players.
For me, with the N707, it's the color, the design, the tactile feel of the unit. And the sound? Absolute chef's kiss. I can listen to this thing all day and never get burnt out. And of course, it works flawlessly. (Portable MD recorders/players, by their very nature, are much more complicated beasts than portable CD players and more prone to developing problems over years—especially if they've been neglected.)
PSA: If you're not going to use your portable electronics for an extended period and they have removable batteries, remove them.
…wandering through new age/crystal shops after taking the ferry from San Francisco across the bay to Sausalito during a balmy late autumn afternoon. It was one of those things you did with new boyfriends or out-of-towners after the obligatory walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. In fact, I believe it was in one of those new age shops that I bought my original copy of this recording. Never fails to put a smile on my face. Simpler times, fer sure!
Some memories of that trip to Sausalito…
I was never that young!WildlifeLooking back toward the CityCarl, Kevin (speaking of new boyfriends), and your hostI've always been incorrigible
When this album came out I was still living in Tucson. Reuniting after a six-month separation my first partner, Dennis, had moved back from Austin a month earlier. We wasted no time in planning out our renewed life together, deciding to move to Phoenix so he could attend ASU. On a recent up there for a job interview, I met Steve (no not that Steve), a man whose townhouse (and bed) we'd both eventually end up sharing. Advice to my younger self: don't do it. Anyhow…
Some visuals to go with the musical soundtrack…
I drove past this house for years on my way to work. I learned that it was originally built by the Ronstadt family (as in Linda). It sat unoccupied, in ever-increasing decay for years until that spring, when repairs began. Being a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright, I always loved the design. It wasn't one of Frank Lloyd Wright's works, but it definitely reflected his influence.
Just the summer monsoons. I miss that about Tucson. Phoenix doesn't get anywhere near as much rain in the summer.
So yeah, I'll just throw this out there. I'm tempted to say I didn't know what I had when I had it, but that would be a lie. I knew exactly what I had and I used it to my advantage whenever I could. Those blue nylon shorts (with the liner strategically cut out) got me into trouble more times than I care to divulge.
Funny thing is that now, some four decades later, I cannot imagine actually sitting out in the sun for hours on end for no reason other than to get a tandamage your skin. Especiallyin Arizona!
This was a little photoshoot Dennis and I decided to do downtown a few weeks after his return. It was in a mixed use shopping/office complex called La Placita Village. After years of neglect and disuse, the place was torn down in 2018.
Pictures from the barrio, taken the same day as our photoshoot.
I'm so glad mustaches are making a comeback. I love me some beards, but there's just something about a 'stache that gets this coming-of-age-in-the-80s homo waxing poetic.
