After months of fighting, crying, arguing, screaming and swearing – it’s finally done. I own my own home – and that was just with the people who were supposed to work with me!

No more. I have keys! Now all my crap gets moved over or thrown out.

The previous owners were all older than my parents, as it was an estate inherited from their mother who was 94 when she passed in the house. These kind souls left me a cake in the fridge and goodies as a house warming gift which practically made me melt. Tea, chocolates, artichoke dip and pesto dip? I really like them. I’ll be out of my old place by July 7th and happy in my new digs.

I have a laundry list of stuff to do now so you’ll excuse me if I take a little break from things here and get settled.

Happily, I shipped off two pieces today to the UK for a fellow fister who bought these two goodies – Fisters and Lend A Hand.

My friends in NYC have called upon me to help them out with the weekends festivities of the leather kind, albeit from the other coast.

I donated a two sets of greeting cards for a raffle at the Gearblast.com / Gearfetish.com party this Saturday the 21st in New York City and I was happy to oblige. The beneficiaries are The National Council for Sexual Freedom, Scarleteen, Sylvia’s Place, Youth Enrichment Services, Leather Archives & Museum and Heritage of Pride.

Also, my very good friend Jake the Barber will be wielding his danger machine at Folsom Street East. So go on over and get your head buzzed, ‘hawked, and high-n-tighted and tell him I sent you. You’ll be able to find him with the 3 foot tall and 2 foot tall banner with the two skinheads shaving the dreads off a punk on it!

Me? I’ll be here moving to my new house.

Now that I’m closing in on the last couple of weeks before I am handed keys to my very first home, I took the time to go out and get some long needed time out from all the hectic bullshit and shop for music.

I’ve been chomping at the bit for The Slackers new release, Self Medication, hoping for some good summer tunes to ease me into the season – what I ended up with was a big disappointment. The Slackers are my all-time favorite ska band that still is together. I’ve seen them live more times than I can remember and after their mini-EP with strong lyrics and the great sound I’ve come to expect from this amazing band on International War Criminal in 2004 and the solid Peculiar album in 2006, one could see why I was eager to get my hands on their new release.

This album sounds absolutely phoned in, meandering from a Beatlesque tune to a silly Vegas-like Elvis ditty with dubbed in crowd screaming and peppered with lackluster ska, reggae and rocksteady songs that are totally forgettable. The only song I vaguely liked was the first track, “Every Day is Sunday” but that even has a pallor of laziness about it. Long story short, long time fans and musical purists will be totally disappointed but if you are looking for something different, maybe this is for you. I’d save your money this time out and it kills me to say it that this one is headed for the Used CD bin at the record shop.

The Futureheads new release, “This Is Not The World”, is a high note after the last stinker I picked up. Released here in the States on June 2nd, I rushed on down to my local and snatched this one up having heard pre-release MP3s on their site and on Facebook.

From beginning to the end, the guitars and driving rhythms had me bouncing around and wanting to jump up and down. While some of it veers into a more pop territory than their self-titled album I initially picked up, what it sacrifices for a broader audience is minimal and I’m so glad I own it. It’s a quick listen, with sharp guitar riffs and vocals, which then leads me to just hit repeat on my player as I like it that much.

Sorry it’s been a long dry spring for those of you who like to keep tabs on me via this blog! I’ve taken some time to do some long needed self reflection to figure out where I should be and what I should be doing. I’ve taken my MySpace page down, my Tribe.net profile has been taken down as well, and reset my focus – I’ve started boxing up crap I have to move into my very first home.

This is quite a feat, since before I was 20 I assumed I’d be dead by 25. Fast forward nearly 10 years to the current economy and I’m sitting pretty to buy my own home! It’s been a long arduous process, cutting through bureaucracy, drowning in home showings and foreclosures that should have been easy to purchase but were not, arguing with city program application processors, mortgage bankers, my agent, and even becoming combative with those I work with to be flexible during this period of transition. Buying a home has not been a good or fun process and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Wednesday, I finalize some of the first time city programs available to me and wrap up escrow on June 15th and I can’t wait for it to be over.

With each year that progresses, I find I get further and further away from those youthful, carefree years and I’m forced to grow (the fuck) up and it sucks. It sucks hard. On the sunny side, I’m buying a house with a large yard in San Diego at a price that is below the asking prices from the pre-boom housing bubble and I qualify for every San Diego housing program out there to help with this huge life changing event. I’ll be able to upgrade the home, built in 1952, to a modern masterpiece albeit at my own pace. This means the electricity needs to be upgraded, pipes replaced, water heater replaced and removed, appliances swapped out for energy efficient onces, and an air conditioning/heating system put in place but not necessarily in that order.

I’ve priced out kitchen flooring, wall treatments, air conditioning, new windows, and various fees associated with making a house a home. I’ve already purchased my very first item for the house – a Playstation 3. Some things I’m not even willing to let go of as my hair slowly turns gray.