Wow. So much has been going on in my life, I just realized that this blog -- which I had such high hopes for -- has pretty much been abandoned. Ahh, the best laid plans!

So, before I move on to more current matters, here is a quick catch-up on what has been happening since my last post.

Southland

Unless you’ve been living in a cave or totally ignore television altogether, then you should already know that TNT saved Southland and it began airing on January 12th with the original episodes from NBC. They will start airing the unseen episodes on March 2nd.

This has, in fact, been a large part of what has taken my time over the last couple of months. Since the announcement that TNT saved the show I created a new Fan website at SouthlandTvFans.com and it has taken off like a rocket! We just recently passed 5,000 visits and over 10,000 page views for the site in just over 2 months. I was also able to (surprise!) wrangle an interview with one of the biggest stars of the show, Michael Cudlitz, who plays gay cop John Cooper.

On a personal level, the site has led to Chris and I meeting several members of the Southland cast, including Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, Michael McGrady, Tom Everett Scott and Regina King, as well as series director/co-creator Chris Chulack. We were able to attend a special screening even in Hollywood recently where we met up with some Southland Twitter friends from San Francisco and Las Vegas, then see a sneak preview of the Season 2 premiere episode. Following the screening I have been able to setup a second interview, this time with Michael McGrady, which I am preparing to do tomorrow on the phone.

All in all, I would say that the whole Southland project has been a major success, both personally and as a webmaster.

Work

What can I say -- work is work, in the world of the independent contractor. Certain people continue to frustrate the hell out of me on a daily basis with their lack of communication and organization. Their clients are even more frustrating, but what can I do? It also makes it a lot tougher that someone who I valued immensely as a co-worker, mentor and friend was let go suddenly. I sometimes wish there was a better option, but unfortunately this IS the better option, at least right now. It certainly is not what I was promised when I started with the company almost a year and a half ago, and most of the promises that were made back then have never come to fruition, but you just have to hang in there and keep plugging away. In this economy, what choice do you have?

Cats

What can I say about the cats. They are spoiled rotten, lazy, overfed, over-loved -- pretty much the same as always. One is sleeping between my legs as I type right now, so nothing new on this subject!

Life

I mentioned going to the Southland premiere event in Hollywood earlier in the month, which was a lot of fun. It was great to get out of the house and actually go do something! With all the weight both of us have lost, we had to go clothes shopping before the event, spending way more than we probably should have, but hey -- after losing that much weight you just have to buy new clothes, right?

One of the friends we met at the event lives in Las Vegas, so Chris and I decided that for the 13th Anniversary of our initial meeting, we are going to do an all out fun trip there. We met on February 9th for our first date, then I cooked him a special dinner on Valentine’s Day, in 1997. So we are going to drive to Vegas on Friday, February 12th and come back on Monday, February 15th. We booked ourselves a deluxe suite at the Mandalay Bay(!) for the trip, so we have some place to finally relax and enjoy a real vacation, rather than just a Motel 6 room on a budget.

Of course, after spending that much money for the room, there won’t be too much left over for gambling, but that’s OK with me! I’m more of a slot machine guy myself. Chris can get a little bit to play some poker (on a very strict budget, with no access to debit card for withdrawals!) and our friend is already planning out fun activities to paint the town on Fri & Sat nights with us. That should be great fun -- partying in Vegas with a native!

That’s pretty much it -- my life for the last few months in a nutshell. Clearly, I need more of a life if it can be summarized that easily! Oh well -- maybe this year.