There’s no denying that I’m an attractive and marketable 42 year old male so why would I allow myself to get involved with someone who’s already in a ten year relationship? That’s the question that’s been plaguing me the past few days.

A few days ago I shared my ongoing dilemma-  young, attractive, 18-29 year old guys wanting to spend some “quality” time with me and in some cases looking to follow through with a relationship.  I’ve been resistant to pursuing a long-term relationship with guys under the age of 30, because I feel they lack the maturity and stability that I’m looking for at this time in my life.   Just when I wasn’t looking or expecting, here comes an attractive, intelligent, successful guy in his late 30′s captures my attention and now my thoughts.

Do I allow myself to be pursued by a “married” man?  Do I set conditions and boundaries?  Or do I just simply walk away- ignoring the text messages and phone calls? Would having an understanding that a platonic friendship would be the limit of our relationship as long as there was a boyfriend involved?  Would such and understand succeed or would temptation and testosterone be the vehicle that drives me to compromise my principles?  Or do I begin to make exceptions and excuses as time passes and I grow more attracted to him to justify my actions.

Yes, both he and his partner have an open relationship and a mutual understanding, but do I sell myself short and just become the “other man”?  Do I read into the fact that he and his partner have only seen each other once in 7 months as a strong indication that both are ready to move on?   Or do I move on, always pondering whether or not I made the right choice?

It fascinating how one’s life can change when one simply asks a total stranger at a club if he could take a picture.

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Famed musical showman, producer and songwriter David Foster and some of his talented friends will be embarking on a 10-city tour of “David Foster and Friends” starting in Chicago on October 21, including stops in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Miami.

In addition to such artists as Philip Bailey from the chart-topping Earth, Wind and Fire, Oprah protege Charice, Chicago’s Peter Cetera and ‘American Idol’s Michael Johns,’ fans can expect surprise visits at every show.

Missing from the line-up is Clay Aiken who recently fathered a child with Jaymes Foster, sister of David.  Clay Aiken was recently signed with Decca Records and has made a guest appearance at other events hosted by Mr. Foster.

Catch more of the latest celebrity news at, EntertainmentChatter.com

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EntertainmentChatter.com

Today marks the official start of my entertainment site; EntertainmentChatter.com.  There were some who said that it would never happen and others who feared its launch, and rightfully so.  Over the course of the next several months, we will be testing new formats and changing the look and feel of the site.

EntertainmentChatter.com was developed to be an up to the minute aggregate site that instantly pulls celebrity news from several sites so that the reader doesn’t have to scour the Internet for the latest celebrity news.  For the past month, this site was product tested in India and Belgium.  Traffic increased from just under 12 hits the first day to just over 17,000 on the 27th day.  The results were phenomenal and and far exceeded our expectation.  I’m determined to mirror that same success here in the United States.  With your support and loyalty, I’m confident that we can and we will.

Remember to bookmark the site and to tell all your friends and family about EntertainmentChatter.com.

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Map of Downtown Raleigh

The map above shows the location of the Hue in relationship to other points of interest in Raleigh.  As you can see, the State Capital Building is just a few blocks Northeast of my condo.  Just across the street is Nash Park.  Right next door are the Borough to the North and Legends to the West.  Across the street and to the South is CC’s.   The Raleigh Convention Center is located 3 blocks to the South.  The Museum of  History and Museum of Natural Arts is located 3 blocks Northeast.  4 blocks East is the IMax theater.  As you can see the location is ideal and the price just can’t be beat.

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Living room area

Kitchen looking into pool and courtyard area

Kitchen with stainless steal appliances, and granite countertops

Bathroom

Bedroom

Overlooking the pool and patio

I'm the yellow one with the purple pin

Inside the lobby of the Hue

My soon-to-be new home

Conveniently located right next to Legends

Definitely screams- John Paulus

It’s been a really long day today.  First, I didn’t get to bed until around 6:00 this morning and I was up at 9:30.  I had a lot planned for today and I got everything I wanted accomplished and then some.

As some of you may already know, I signed an intent to purchase on a condo in downtown Raleigh.  I’m very excited.  Before I tell you about it, let me back up a  little.  Today, my plans were to look at 4 downtown condos and kind of narrow down which I thought would best meet my criteria.   My first stop was ‘West at North‘.  Beautiful condos, nice floor plans, but overpriced, despite a significant drop in price.  Second stop, Palladium Plaza; nice floor plan, competitively priced, decent location, friends live there, but just didn’t feel comfortable.  Third stop, the Hue.  Best deal in downtown Raleigh, fantastic location right next door to the Borough, public parking, and Legends, pool view, comfortable layout, and again VERY good price.  Final stop, Th RBC Plaza Condos; best view in Raleigh, great layout, a little pricey, can’t select phone, cable, or Internet provider.

I knew after I went to the Hue that that was the place.  It was me.  The feel of the condo, the style, the pool view, the location downtown… everything just fit.  It will be some time before I can actually close on the condo.  Because it is a Fannie Mae property, 51% must first be pre-sold before they can be released to close.  Currently, they are at 30% and that’s probably why I got a great deal on it.  I had a choice between the model, which is pictured above, or the one two floors above that one.  I decided upon the one on the upper floor overlooking the pool and courtyard.

So what are my plans…  well, the estimated date for 51% pre-sale is expected to be sometime in the February/March time frame.  I will move to my mother’s new home and occupy the finished upstairs area which houses the study, recreation room, and full bathroom until my condo is released for occupancy.  Once I have moved, my nephew will occupy that space.  The remainder portion of the upstairs of my mother’s house that was not finished will be completed in 12 months.  The additional 1,200 square feet will include another kitchen, living, dining area, 1 1/2 bathrooms, and a bedroom.  This space will be used primarily by me when I stay the weekends or when family come from out of town.  My downtown condo will be primarily used during work weeks or when I don’t feel like driving after going clubbing with friends.  The convenience of the condo make it ideal for me and my lifestyle.  My second residence, if you wish to call it that, in the upstairs portion of my mother’s  house, will be finished in a loft style type design.

I’m really excited about my condo, and I’m looking so forward to being able to move in and enjoy the pleasures of downtown living.  In recent months, many of my friends have purchased condos downtown, and they absolutely love it.  I’m sure that I will also enjoy spending my time taking in the din of the city.

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Another year and another gay pride and 2009 turned out to be great one despite the heavy rain.

I began celebrating my pride by spending the day with my mother.  After all, had it not been for her I wouldn’t be around to celebrate gay pride.  I was up early on Saturday, and made my way to the gym for a few hours before heading over to mom’s.  After I arrived at mom’s, we chatted for a bit and then drove to where her house is being constructed so she could show me the progress.  Nearly everyday she’s calling me to let me know how far along they’ve gotten and each week she wants me to come out to take a look.  She really is very very excited.

After, mom and I went shopping.  She purchased some baking items and I… well, I bought a memory foam pad for my bed.  I can report this morning that it felt great sleeping on it.  Mom and I went through the check-out and we stopped for a late lunch at an Ale House.  My mom has never been to an Ale House before.  For some odd reason, yesterday I had this urge for fish and chips… you would think with it being gay pride and all the last thing on my mind would be fish.  But I digress.  Mom, fearing that the fish would be too greasy,  ordered a burger with sautéed onions, provolone cheese, etc. and I ordered the beer-battered fish and chips.  Guess what, mom took one taste of my fish and loved it.  I must admit, it was delicious- lightly battered, very fresh, flaky… yum.  I drove mom home, spent about another hour and left so that I could go out with friends for pride.

My first stop, last night, was Flex.  For those who aren’t familiar with Flex, Flex is a “bear/daddy” bar.  By that, I mean, you tend to see guys that are either “larger”, older, and more into the leather scene there.  Of course, you will also find a few younger guys who are drawn to those type of men.   Thursday is an exception to this rule, however, has many go there for ‘Trailer Trash Night’.   Now some of you may be asking… John why did you go to Flex.  One of my very best and closet friends is the manager there.  Also, one of my very good friends was DJing.  Plus, they had a porn star giving away free DVD’s.  I spent a few hours talking to friends, hanging out in the DJ booth and chatting it up with a porn star who’s been featured in “Broke Straight Boys” and “Guys Over Thirty”.  I didn’t want to take away any attention he was getting so I didn’t share my porn star credentials.  After all, let him have his 15 minutes, right?

I left Flex and headed over to the Borough where I met up with a couple of friends.  To be honest, it was soooooo very busy in there that I didn’t even give it a thought to ordering any food less even a glass of water.  Finally, we rolled into Legends and it was packed solid.   And why shouldn’t it be.  DJ Escape was spinning and Robin S. was the guest performer.

When I lived in South Florida, I would go to Crobar on Sunday in Miami just to dance to DJ Escape’s mixes.  He’s one of the best in the business.  I don’t mean to stereotype, but typically straight DJ’s just don’t know how to really mix music.  DJ Escape is one of the exceptions.  He once remarked while in Miami that he loved playing for the gay boys, because they could really appreciate his mixes and he loved taking them on the musical journey throughout the night.  He never disappointed.

As for Robin S., I haven’t seen her for 14 years.  Here’s a little history.  While in the military, I used to dance at this gay bar in Fayetteville, NC.  One day this guy who managed male dancers saw me on the dance floor and asked if I would join his troupe. For months I declined and finally, one day, I acquiesced.   Any way, long story short, Cybil Sheppard was throwing a huge Halloween party in Memphis, Tennessee and hired our dance troupe to perform throughout the night and to be the back-up dancers for Robin S. That was back in October 31, 1994.  It was one of the best times I had. Robin S performed her hit, ‘Show Me Love’ and it brought back a lot of memories.  In fact, last night brought a whole lot of memories.

I saw my friends Jim and Jeff.  They were my first two friends when I came out.  We’ve known each other for 15 years.  I saw one of the guys I used to dance with when I performed in Myrtle Beach 14 years ago.  I saw another guy that I was in the military with 17 years ago.  I ran into the guy who used to bartend at Legends 15 years ago.  I saw my first crush, Dayle, who I brought to Connecticut with me back in 1995 and introduced my mother and family to.  To this day my mother still talks about Dayle.  Of course, back in those days, Dayle was still discovering himself and trying to convince himself that he was bi.

Last night was just so much fun, reminiscing about the days passed and talking how much some people have changed.  Of course, needless to say, I haven’t changed much at all and that was the census.  So what else went on…  I met this really nice guy by the name of Michael, who wore these red Puma shoes.  He and I talked for about 30 minutes and we exchanged numbers.  I really liked him a lot, but I played it very cool… I  told him I was going to walk around and maybe see him later.   I mean, he has my number and if he’s interested he’ll call me.  Plus, my boy toy Alex was waiting in the wings.  My iPhone was being burned up with text messages from him asking “where are you”, etc.

I spent my night with Alex, dancing, drinking, talking, kissing, hugging, rubbing…. Alex and I had a great time.  And this kind of gets to the crux of my love life.  I don’t know what it is with these 20 something year old guys and their attraction to me.  Listen, I’m not complaining nor am I bragging.  I being very serious here.  My friends will tell you the same thing, the 18-28 year olds are always hitting on me.  And before some of you say that they’re looking for a sugar daddy, let me just tell you how wrong you are.  That is not the case at all.  Sure, the young guys are great eye candy and are fun, but they lack the maturity and stability that, at my age, I’m looking for.  Alex, who’s in his mid-twenties, is stable, mature, extremely nice, well-spoken, etc., but lives about 90 minutes away and I am NOT having anyone move in with me.   At least not until we’ve been courting for some time.  Which now leads me back to the red Puma wearing Michael who I woke up thinking about.  Did I make a mistake by walking away after 30 minutes?  Maybe not.  While standing at the bar waiting for  a drink order, Michael came up to me and said, “you have my number, don’t forget to use it”.  Hmmm…  could gay pride result in a love connection?  Who knows, but at least, at a minimum, it resulted in another good friend and that’s really what celebrating pride is all about- making great friends.

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Roof nearly framed

Fireplace location in family room

Second floor study

Recreation room

Upstairs living room area

Second floor kitchen area

Location of second floor living room

Recreation room and study

Back of house

Mom looks so tiny as she inspects the framing of the second floor

Mom' trying to decide where to put her garden

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Rush Limbaugh was a guest on the Jay Leno Show Thursday night and received a warm welcome and thunderous applause throughout his segment.

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Last week, my brother and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Savannah.

Savannah joins her brother, RJ, to complete a beautiful family.

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