In 2010...

Last night I was getting ready for a party to bring in the new year with friends (which was FAB, btw), and I was thinking about 2010. I started to get sad and wonder what I had done in 2010 that was worthwhile. I couldn't think of anything. "Has my life this year been dedicated to work, alone? Haven't I spent this year doing anything meaningful beyond a paycheck?"

Then I started to think. 2010 has been pretty amazing, actually. Nothing like I would have expected. But wow. What. A. Year.

1. I exercised consistently for the entire year. This is a phenomenal achievement. I have never exercised consistently ever in my life. And here, I did it all year long.

2. I made an "It Gets Better" video that ended up getting over 50,000 views on YouTube. The video led to interviews with the LA times and the Associated Press. Now my video has been transcribed and will be published in a collection by Penguin.

3. I was a member of the committee that organized the Utah AIDS Foundation's Walk For Life. Truly rewarding.

4. I designed t-shirts for UAF, and saw tons of UAF volunteers wearing and marching in them during SLC's Gay Pride. This was my first Pride.

5. I found a new passion in making cocktails.

6. I went to Boston for a week.

7. I ran a 10k.

8. I joined the Salt Lake Men's Choir.

Yeah, 2010 was pretty much amazing. I'm so lucky.

The LOVELIEST Libation

Dear HF,

OMG, I love a Gin and Tonic. There's nothing more refreshing or soothing. LOL!

I recently stumbled upon this recipe for Gin and Tonic sorbet and like, got soooo excited! ROFL!

So I made it. And now I have the recipe perfected to my own standards. And OH MY, God, have you got to try this. Of course, I just needed to double the recipe and add more gin. That's sooo me, amiright!?

So HF, thanks againsies for this fab drinkie,

Amen.

RECIPE:

2 c. simple syrup

5 c. tonic water

1 c. lime juice

1 1/2 c. gin*

*I like New Amsterdam gin. It comes in a pretty bottle, is good quality and is pretty inexpensive.

So easy, just throw it all in your ice cream maker and freeze it. It takes a little longer than ice cream would, b/c of the alcohol and all, but it's well worth the wait.

You can also garnish with lime zest and/or a lime wedge. This only matters on the first round. After that, nobody will care.

Nick's dating tips.

I've been going on a lot of first dates lately. And it's excruciating. OH THE AWKWARDITY!

So I've come up with a few simple tips to assuage the terribleness of first dates. Here we go.

1. Expect your date to be a hot mess. So when the date doesn't end with a broken drag heel, running mascara and crying in the gutter, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

2. Make a list of questions to ask beforehand. Here are some suggestions:

-Aren't I adorable?

-Will you pick up the tab?

-How does one know if they have Herpes, hypothetically?

-Wouldn't you rather get a makeover at the MAC counter?

3. If the date is going really well, delve into some deeper topics:

-Look at my ass in these jeans!

-Buy me another beer, you bitch!

-OK, so what's your hottest celeb sex fantasy? Dead or alive.

-What's your middle name?

4. And if the date is boring, you might try making a friend instead and asking some intellectual questions like:

-Do you have friends?

-Are any of them cute?

-Are any of them single?

-What are their numbers?

-Will you have sex with me?

5. If you don't know if the date is going well, you're in a tough spot. I find it effective to always assume the worst: That your date has four tongues, two of which are poisonous and scaly. And his tail will rip through his jeans at any moment while he screams, "HA! You're a fool! I'm really an alien lizard!"

6. Find out up front what the other person is looking for. So are you looking for a serious relationship? Are you just casually dating? Do you like sex toys?

7. And lastly but not leastly, be confident. You have nothing to hide. If someone falls in love with you, you want it to be because they love you for who you are. Besides, I already published all your deepest secrets to the Internet. And everyone already knows your hottest celeb sex fantasy is me.

We're gonna getcha!

One of the most hilarious pieces of hate speech against gays is that the gays are infiltrating and taking over society.

I hear it, and I'm all, DUH!

My favorite quote from Glee between BFFs Mercedes (beautiful black woman) and Kurt (gay): "Mercedes is black, I'm gay: We make culture."

And I'm all, DUH!

You see, as my time passes as an out gay man it becomes easier and easier to spot other gays.

I express this to my friends. "The gays. They're everywhere! EVERYWHERE! THE GAYS! DO YOU HEAR ME!"

And they're all, DUH!

And so for the hell of it, and to prove my point DAMNIT, here are some stats from my very gay life.

6 people I knew at BYU-Idaho are now out-of-the closet gays. 4 of these I knew before I acknowledged that I was gay to myself.

I come from a tiny-ass town. And more specifically, a rural area outside of the small-ass town. And in my rural area, I can think of 6 confirmed homosexuals. And all within 10 years of my age.

61 men within 10 miles of me are currently on connexion.org, a favorite gay dating web site.

25,000 people who attended Utah Pride 2010. Of course, not all are gay. But that's still a lot.

3 people I served with on my mission are gay.

And in general, I see them everywhere. At the gym, at the grocery store, next to me in traffic. Everywhere.

Basically I just wanted to write and say if you hate gays, well, you'd best not. 'Cause we're out there. We're everywhere. We're infiltrating your literature! Your art! Your television! We'll make you miserable (your fault, not ours)!

Obviously. The gays? Oh, they're everywhere.

Ya'll been missing me?

I haven't updated in forevsies. Stream-of-conciousness awesomeness coming atcha. (This post is better if you read it in a fast-paced ADHD voice. Thank you.)

-Went to the Arts Fest. It was awesome. While leaving for afternoon cocktails at a nearby bar, a street preacher was yapping about how "I'm gay! Not homosexual! GAY MEANS HAPPY." Whatevs. He was weird. So I shouted and raised my hand, "I'm homosexual!" The line waiting to get in cheered. So proud of my 'lil moment.

-Shaved my head. Cut it all right off. Low maintenance hairstyle = amazing. PICTURE:

So yep, thats me looking oh-so-vogue sexy. Damn straight. Also note the tank top. I have purchased no less than 5 tank tops this summer. Couldn't be happier. Tank tops + no bed head ever = best summer ever.

-Got maself a clock radio. JK. Already had one.

-Injured... so no running. Outdid myself and made my knee hurt real bad on my 7.5 mile run. Now I can run an amazingly low 2 miles only without pain. Pissed, but lesson learned.

-But I did hire a personal trainer. He wants me to find a picture of what I want to look like when I'm done. Looked through no less than 1,327,451 pics online and finally found the one that was perfsies. HAWT man be me in 12 months or less.

-On the board for the Utah AIDS Foundation's Walk for Life coming up in Sept. Can't wait. Them posters gonna be brills.

-Don't know what's with the Utah-preteen-gay-gangster-lol-catz talk. Srsly.

-Wuz on hotguysreadingbooks. With this fab pic:

Thanks be to my coworker K-W whom I love, for the picture.

-Summer is here and parties galore. Not that they weren't before. But now our parties have tiki torches. And I burned my hand on one cause I didn't know what I was doing, but now I know so ask me anything about tiki torches.

-Wish I could quit my job and ride my bike around the world. Just live like the little hipster that lives inside me but with more space and less guts. I'd play my uke at liberty park, but in my dreams there would be no oil spill. And I would have a better singing voice.

-Or I'd go to summer camp.

-Wish I was funny like this bitch. Watch out for that F-bomb straight up at the front.

-But I am funny. Was makin' everyone bust a gut at a recent party. A few quotes that were gems:

"Goddamnit! Guacomole and genocide!"

"What are you doing?" "Oh you know, just weaving placenta."

I know, you don't get it. I don't care, it's funnier this way. Promises promises.

-OMG watched "Funny Girl" for the first time. Love that Babs. She's the prettiest. AND, Carrie Bradshaw? I got news for you honey, you stole your moves straight up from that fine Jewish specimen. Guaranteed. I can just see Miss Jessica Parker (wish I could hate her) watching "Funny Girl" and stealin' every mannerism. Whatever.

-Just living the summer of love and amazingness here in SoSaLa (South Salt Lake, duh).

-Misses and kisses to you all.

Well isn't that just lovely...

So many wonderful things about my life lately. I'd like to share them with you.

For those of you who don't know, I moved into my friend Blake's townhouse. It's much cheaper here, and it's a financially responsible decision for me. I carpool with my coworker, and it's nice to have people at home from time to time. One of my favorite things about living here so far has been the garden. Blake doesn't have a lot of desire to garden, so he's allowed me to plant whatever I want. Here's what's in my garden:

Strawberries. These were here before Blake moved in, so I trimmed them back, and they've produced many small, but delicious berries this year.

The Geraniums are out of control!

And other various flowers. I've got some Cosmos, some Zinnias, some Impatiens. Some other stuff that I cannot name. Because I forgot what it's all called.

Also, I just had my first Pride. It was so totally, unbelievably brilliant and rewarding. I marched with the Utah AIDS Foundation. This organization is run by such great people, and it was (and is!) a privilege to be involved with them.

Blake marched with us too. Blake is one of the good ones. It was his job to carry the rainbow flag, and he carried it so proudly. There were a few moments where I watched him, saw the pure happiness and pride in his face and nearly burst into tears. It was amazing. The look on his face expressed how I was feeling inside. So damn proud to be me.

These are some of the most brilliant, amazing people I know. Some of my best friends who marched with me. (L-R: Lydia, Blake, Denice, and me). I'm crying a little, just looking at this picture.

I've also been training for a half marathon. I'm not sure which, but my drive to be fit has never been more. Since I'm running about 6-7 miles right now, I decided to run the Pride 5k. A local photographer took this AMAZING picture of me. I was proud of my time (26:20), and Denice and Blake were there to cheer me on. Amazeballs friends. Just amazeballs.

Also, there's been this great boy lately, Danny. We've had a lot of fun over the last month or so. Problem is, he's moving back to D.C. (He was here on temporary assignment). I knew he'd be leaving all along, so it's no surprise, but I'll be sad to see him go. But he's just been one more thing to top off the greatness in my life right now.

Run your very own gay 10k!

A spelling lesson, sort of.

I love this.

via @tricktcha, my delightful cousin, whose blog is consistently inspiring.

My new hobby.

Yesterday I bought a sewing machine. Today I made this. I plan to make more. I found the instructions here.

Now with more choppy editing!

My first video blog.

Six feelings I've been feeling a lot lately. Or, a post about my sexy new biceps.

1. Accomplishment. If you follow me on Twitter, or interact with me with any regularity, you've heard me say, "Have you seen my biceps?!" Then I probably peeled my skin-tight sleeve off of my bulging right bicep and showed you what I've been working on for the past 3 months. Vanity, no. Accomplishment, yes.

2. Weepiness. Have you SEEN 'Glee?' That is all.

3. The Holiday spirit. I fully planned on being a scrooge this year. So much for that.

4. Vanity. Because that definitely wasn't a part of #1. And because there's a lot of it in my life. And because I have the cutest winter boots.

5. Also, I'm in love. Oh wait. No. No, I'm not.

6. Did I mention my biceps?

How's Utah?

So now that it's been a month since I've lived in Utah (and a month since I've posted), I'm kinda settled in. And I'm pleased to say that things are pretty damn great. I'll talk about those, but I'll also talk about some negative things. Some things that I need to say.

-I love my job. It's a great combination of editing, managing content and graphic design (all of which I love). It's busy, and we're always up against one deadline or another (or another, and another). But it's exciting, and I'm learning a lot. Best of all I have great co-workers. I knew I'd get along with them as soon as they laughed at my first joke. I'm a sucker for a person who laughs at my jokes.

-It's great to be so close to Miss Bates. She's so great, and it's practically a necessity for me to see her once a week. In fact, we've established "BFF night" every Wednesday night. One week she comes to downtown, the next, I go to Sandy. It's a delight. Truly wonderful.

-My apartment is so delightful. I really love having my own place and I LOVE the neighborhood. Seriously, so great. On the weekends I pretend I'm a real city person (and don't commute a half hour into the suburbs every day) and try to park my car and walk a lot. Everything is in walking distance. The grocery store is two blocks away, the library is five or six. Downtown is maybe five.

-I'm making new friends all the time. Most of the people I've met are through Sean and Craig, who have been delightful people to have around. We cook, we drink, we karaoke. We generally have a good time.

-But not all is fun and games (most, but not all). Utah seems a much more political place than Idaho. And Salt Lake City is the capital. When I lived in Idaho, I felt like I was far away from Idaho politics. Things didn't sink in as much there. Like what, you ask? Like the fact that in Utah and Idaho it is legal for an employer to not hire or fire someone just because they are gay. More upsetting than not being able to marry, LGBT people here (and in Idaho) can GET FIRED FROM THEIR JOBS just for being gay.

-Also, I can see the top of the Church office building from my house, and I drive by Temple Square every day on the way to work. This is an interesting feeling. Something I used to hold dear is now something that fights against my basic human rights. Did I mention that in Utah it's legal for someone to FIRE ME FROM MY JOB because I'm gay?

-So I've been wanting to get involved. That's another great thing about Utah, is that there are ways to get involved everywhere. So we'll see where I end up. Any suggestions on places to volunteer?

Well, it's hard to say goodbye... -or- Six things I didn't expect to be so great about Idaho.

The other night I was at a it's-Nick's-last-weekend-living-in-Idaho party, and I made a speech. The speech was simple and to the point. "When I decided to stay in Idaho, I didn't expect to make lifetime friends, but here you all are."

So, without further ado, here are six things I didn't expect to be so great about living in Idaho.

1. My new friends. Lessie, Thomas, Stephanie, Jackie, everyone at Cabinpalooza, all the people at the UU, plus many others. Even in conservative Idaho Falls, I found a ton of people who accepted and supported me as a gay man.

2. Being close to my family and existing friends. I don't think I could have lived without Rachel, Catherine or my family during the last 6 months.

3. Living alone. I can't say enough about how great it is to live alone. I can't wait to have my own apartment again in Salt Lake.

4. Living with friends. When I was laid off from my job, Rachel and Abe let me live in their basement. There's not a lot better than late-night conversations after the kids had gone to bed. More than once, the conversation was accompanied by an Oreo and milk binge.

5. Boys. OK, now, don't be fooled. Idaho Falls does not have very many gay people. But there were enough. I have pretty much had at least one boy to chase at all times. It's been fun. Really fun.

6. My art show. Who would have thought that I would have had an art show AND sell two pieces? It was so fun to sell my first artwork. Also, since being laid off, I've had time for all kinds of creative endeavors.

Snapshots from my life in the last few days.

Saturday night: "Come down here right now!" I shouted to Rachel. Immediately, the funk I was in was over. It was like I had done some very powerful drugs.

Rachel must have been in a panic, and immediately ran downstairs. "I got an offer!" I continued, conscious of the sleeping children. Rachel smiled while I danced around like a weirdo, hugged her, and generally basked in the fact that my life was going to change.

Later Saturday night: How interesting. On the night I find out I'm moving from Idaho, I end up on a date with an adorable boy. Sigh. Of course I did.

Even later Saturday night: The happiness that was immediately injected into my system a few hours earlier left me almost entirely unable to sleep. I achieved a whopping two hours of sleep. Over and over again, I went from lying there with my mind rushing through thoughts of where I was going to live, my new responsibilities, etc., to clutching my knees and giggling like an imbecile, so happy that i was finally leaving Idaho.

Sunday morning: I went to church, where I lit a candle and announced, "It's been wonderful to be here in Idaho Falls during such a defining time in my life, but now I'm moving to Salt Lake City." Coffee hour was filled with friendly goodbyes.

Sunday afternoon: Caught a very quick nap. Certainly not long enough to catch up on sleep.

Later Sunday afternoon: Helped Rachel prepare for dinner guests. We ate a delightful dinner, then I couldn't handle the stress of new people in my sleep-deprived state. So I watched the baby in the living room for a while then crashed for a two-hour nap. The dinner guests wondered where I went.

Now: I think I'm pretty much caught up on the sleep I missed. I'm in a rush to get everything done before I start my new job on August 5. Very exciting, my friends, very exciting.

Looking on the sunny side of life...

So, the bright side of my semi-unemployed status is that I've had tons of extra time for creative endeavors (awesome blog post coming tomorrow, photography, painting). My friend Loriann commissioned me to do a painting for her... and I finished it tonight. I've been painting outside... the weather has been delightful. Enjoy!

Now I can't wait to read about me later on your blog

OK, the embed feature on this video is weird... but click through to collegehumor.com. So awesome. So funny. So delightful.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Six reasons you should be jealous.

1. A brand new pair of Diesel jeans. They were $40. I know. What. A. Deal.
2. My new roommates.
3. A cooking buddy usually within 100 feet of me.
4. Asserting my manliness by wrestling a 2-year-old to the ground.:)
5. The Tautphaus Park Zoo. It is a perfect zoo of perfect size. Best of all, no pandas.
6. The most delicious meat of my life. Kabobs and brats. Wish that would have lasted forever.

Goodbye beard.