Old House Adventures in Spokane

I went on an adventure this evening to the Davenport Hotel, the oldest hotel in Spokane. OUTSpokane had a holiday party (it's the committee that puts on PRIDE every June) and I bought a ticket to both support and be a voyeur. A beautiful hotel, restored to turn-of-the-century elegance. The Spokane symphony has a tree raffle that brings in a lot of dough, so the place was packed with folks buying raffle tickets and putting them in big plastic boxes next to the trees (you win cash prizes, vacations....it's a big deal) so I pushed my way through star-struck families and fake-tanned girls-night-out-groups to the ballroom where the group of gays were gathered. The guy at the lectern was proud that over 200 people bought tickets, and that this year's Pride event will attract almost 25,000 people. The supporters were mostly middle-aged, mostly coupled, and it had a church-type feel to it. Lots of people greeting each other, old friends and acquaintances, celebrating the season

It's appropriate that the manifestation of ghost stuff didn't really happen until October hit. When Joseph went through the house, he didn't like the basement. I spent some time down there cleaning, and talked with the entity, explaining that I was going to fix up the home and it was gonna be nice. I pulled down makeshift walls, cleaned and swept, and it's really a cheerful place down there now. I like going down there. When the furnace guys were working a couple of days ago in the basement, they were joking and told me I had a great house. We made peace down there, and all is good. Main floor is neutral ,but the first few days here I passed the staircase like it didn't exist. There was an odd "psychic barrier" at the entrance of the staircase that made me ignore it. I caught myself, after about 3 days, thinking  "is there an upstairs?" which made me realize that something odd was amiss. I spent one evening downstairs, blessing and visualiz

One week ago today, at 4am on a Thursday morning, Joseph Pinter and I got into a 20 foot U-Haul truck hauling a car trailer and started a 2,000 mile trip. Neither one of us slept well;  it was one of those kind of mornings that was both exciting and melancholy, with overtones of finality—I was leaving Kansas City. A touch of hangover didn't help things, but a surprise send-off at Bistro 303 made the goodbyes easier. The final night at the old house was sort of sad, but we were ready to leave. Everything packed with the help of friends as we remembered things. Laugher. Sadness. Happiness. Burnt Easter bunnies and cheap wigs. Things that matter. I had a wonderful times a couple of weeks leading up to this moment having lunch and dinner with people I love, starting the transition between a close-proximity friendship to a long-distance one. Saying goodbye is hard. We started the trip with an hour and a half detour because I didn't do the GPS correctly. A 12-hour d

I have an hour before I have to go pick up the U-Haul truck & trailer and wanted to write a bit before I disassembled the computer. At that point I'll truly be a nomad. Everything is packed and wrapped up in boxes. I really did hold each item to determine if it made it on the next leg of my life's journey. Most things didn't make it (if you were Pex water tubing or a tool, you had a free pass) but I found good homes for most everything else. Greg and I had a big garage sale in June, and I invited anyone who ever gave me anything the night before for a "preview" sale. That meant I gave them a big Ikea rainbow bag and let them take whatever they wanted, including the wonderful, amazing gifts they'd given me throughout the years that didn't make the cut to Spokane. That was a happy night. My flashes of "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING" are happening less and less, and I'm understanding that the Universe really, really wants me t

Yes, you're reading this correctly.  The freezer is a balmy 72°. If you were a refrigerator and only had 11 days left to spend with moi, what would you do? Attempt suicide? It's on life support. Read online that it may be the fan motor, so I ordered one and installed it. Nope. The service doctor pays a visit on Tuesday. Quite frankly, I'm touched it doesn't want to live without me. My mind is screaming HURRY AND PACK IT ALL NOW YOURE RUNNING OUT OF TIME and then you find Max's brush. With his silver schnauzer hair. You remember Gae and Greg H and Greg K and Bradley and JayJeremy loving you when the vet put him down, right there on the floor where you're sitting. No hurry anymore, just cry for awhile. This is how long I've been in Kansas City.  Didn't know what to do after college, followed Greg Hugeback here, got a job and an apartment. Then, better jobs,  two houses, two major relationships, some damn wonderful friends—so why

4 years older. The new home I've purchased versus the one I'm living in now. It's on North Addison Street,  centrally located, close to downtown, and a total dump. And I'm loving every second of it. Think the only thing I'll be able to salvage is the hot water heater, studs, some of the original flooring and exterior. For the past two nights I've woken up, multiple times either screaming "what the fuck are you doing" or "if you combined the dining room and kitchen you could have an awesome party".  That pretty much describes the past few sleepless nights. The decision to move from a place that I've known all of my adult life to a city that I've only visited three times is complex. I've noticed that I've been pulling away from my friends in KC to prepare for the shift; they know, they understand, but I feel a little guilty for shifting inward to keep me from an emotional chasm when I get into the truck and drive away le

To chronicle the move (and adventures) from Kansas City, MO to Spokane, WA and beyond. Two reasons: 1) to learn MORE software and write more; 2) to have an outlet to record all the fucking crazy things that will be happening in my life starting....now. Sometimes, you can't make this shit up. Minutes ago, house in Kansas City just got inspected for new owner's mortgage, I'll be on the road to Spokane one month from today. I bought 4441 Gillham Road in early September, 2005. A breakup, house sale, and some extra cash allowed me to buy this rental, and I've spent the last 14 years fixing it up. Here's before and after pics. I'm proud of the work I've done here. But time to move on. New adventures, new old house,  and new stories. Stay tuned. ;)