THE FRIDAY CHOSEN FEW (edit, mix, shake, release.)

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with tim back in los angeles full time,

we decided it was time to revive a chicago tradition,

the friday chosen few.

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simply,

take the people in your life,

from every aspect,

that you truly adore.

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make sure there are new finds with long-standing family members.

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add flowers.

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mix in desserts and strong cocktails.

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step back, stirring occasionally to ensure the proper

cross-pollination.

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watch new things happen.

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(tim, rick farber, hairstylist, and jo strettell, hot chick and my make-up and image guru)

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(abby wake, model, dancer and chris puckett, actor and my personal male muse)

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(me, and crazy inspiring dj aaron elvis)

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(stylist and bff, bic owen and tim, soooo serious!)

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(jonathan clay harris, casting agent/photographer/make-up whiz and chris salvatore, model/actor)

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(serena radaelli, hair genius, and marco souza, make-up artiste & latin firebrand)

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(kyla fox, model, kyle sweeney, and tom whitman, amazing promoter and "mr. west hollywood")

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(luke nero, event guru and "mr. black" himself, and krissy lindquist, producer)

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(landis, devastatingly arch, and assaf blecher, dick clark productions maestro)

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one of the fun reasons to know what everyone does

is that as small as this town is,

some of the best talent rarely gets to socialize or get to know each other.

in addition,

we've only held two of these nights,

and someone has gotten a job at each of them

from someone they met that night.

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not that that puts ANY pressure on future events.

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of course, jo could just keep showing up in bunny ears,

and we'd all be happy.

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FIREBALL, NEW YEAR'S EVE, WEST HOLLYWOOD : tom whitman, luke nero, body paint everywhere, aerialists . . . still recovering.

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we broke with tradition this year

(dress up.  have friends over.  cater food.  celebrate.  like adults.)

and went for the opposite

(go to nightclub.  with two thousand other gays.  drink tequila.  dance. tip go go boys. get covered in body paint from friends tom and luke who are hosting evening.)

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that's our friend chris puckett behind the bar.

he went "rouge".

luke, meanwhile,

went all "blue".

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did i mention there were a few other people there?

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and aerialists?  and the "ass" waiters?

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looking back, it was pretty fun to blow it out like this.

2010 was HARD.

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of course, tom whitman took the appropriate tone,

going all "black swan" on us

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yeah, remind me next year.

body paint is the new black.

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MR BLACK, AGAIN.

sorry,

but there's lots of inspiration here.

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LOVE

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LENORA CLAIRE'S BIRTHDAY AT MR BLACK, L.A. :

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i've known lenora since the start of mr black out here,

when she came with luke and crew to be shot for the opening event work.

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i've shot lenora for my entry into a W magazine contest

(which in hindsight, might have been a bit much for old W)

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but i didn't really see her shine until she threw her bday bash a few weeks back

at mr black.

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it started, of course,

with a unicorn at the door:

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i love larva's tribute to the lady of the evening.

(hers were NOT real.  lenora's are.  fyi.)

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luke was swirling up the party, per usual:

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the rest of the crowd?

ranged from insane

to intangible.

you'll see:

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as for me?

i spent the night as a toy soldier:

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ordering tequila, neat,

from the cutest bartender i have recently shot half naked on my roof:

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and catching up on gossip from ms. natascha:

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happy birthday,

indeed.

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