am i doing well? no

amber vegas palms

today we are going to have a virtual memorial service for amber

ive been looking at pictures all week bc i am a crazy person

i miss her very much.

i get very emotional.

this astrologer lady says im gonna get into some fights in the next few days

so im thinking i should probably limit my social media usage

and maybe not uber

bc im so sensitive right now i dont wanna get in any fights

gonna cry like a baby later today at this memorial, i know

i wish i had done better

Lil drunk, might delete later

amberAmber and I were together from the entirety of the Trump administration. She moved in when he “won” and she left during the Insurrection. We were fighting and I turned on the news and I couldn’t believe what was happening.

She was all, is that more important than us? I was like, they’re trying to hang Mike Pence!

Speaking of drunk, we texted before we dated. During that getting to know each other she revealed she was sober. So on our first two dates I took her places like concerts or ballgames and I didn’t drink either bc I didn’t want it in her face.

I wanted to kiss her but I didn’t have my liquid courage. I realized I hadn’t made a first move on a date completely sober since I was in high school.

But also I feel most of my dates also included the woman also getting loose in one way or another to deaden the pain.

Finally we were at a Kiss concert and the two story lights flashed Kiss during Black Diamond, so I went for it. During that time she also wore very high heels. My first gf was tall. I didn’t give one bleep.

My mom wants me to cut down on the swear words.

Yesterday she reluctantly gave in to a 90 minute podcast with me.

We talked about giving birth to me, the men she dated when she got divorced, if men were pigs at work to this 31 year old newly single brown skinned woman [spoiler: “so many of them would have been Me Tooed”].

Next week I’m gonna edit it and put it on YouTube. I feel weird about Spotify. I’m an idealist, why am I letting Spotify- a company who steals from my favorite ppl: musicians – hold my most prized possession, my podcast?

So I’m going to make sure my YouTube account gets some of these side interviews I’m sure I’ll do more of in the future.

I only cried a little over Amber today. Once when I was driving my mom to get her nails done. She was concerned we would crash.

I said, Amber knows I’ve still got shit to do down here. She’s looking out for me.

Language Tony! My mom huffed.

amber’s sister called me today to tell me she had passed

tony pierce amber smith on melrose ave. 2021

amber and i lived together for four years.
half of that was during the pandemic in a tiny apartment.

you get to know someone in that situation.

amber mona lisa mask
as you probably know she had her demons. she struggled with addictions. But she was able to kick many of them admirably.
she enjoyed going to meetings.
she enjoyed doing things that would help her in her recovery.

her sister told me they learned it was complications of her diabetes that caused her death

amber working at the fairmont
for the last couple of years she was in Washington trying to get a fresh start.
she had a boyfriend – something that was never hard for her –
she had a job working at a fancy hotel – something she was great at.

the last time she texted me she told me she was 30 days sober.

before that text she asked me to write her a card. i was reluctant because i told her i thought we should chill out on conversing so we could both move on with our next chapters – something that’s hard to do when you’ve got one foot in the Past

amber in santa barbara reading from the laptop

but i did write the card. i dont remember what i wrote. it was hard to know what to say and the pens were old and didn’t want to work.

it was all so strange.

i was also worried what she wanted it for.

amber at a black lives matter rally in 2020.
im glad i sent it though because her follow up texts were so sweet.
she was such a truly genuinely sweet person.

she LOVED being a concierge. she loved being of service.

after a few of her friends started reading my blog they’d eventually ask, “you two are sooo different, what do you talk about?”

we talked about the hotel biz A Lot.
amber next to a black mercedes and palm trees in the parking lot of the academy archives on vine
we loved this book Heads in Beds which we listened to
on a long roadtrip to Spring Training
a few years ago.
one of my favorite memories of Amber was she was at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire on Rodeo
One of her favorite books was Michelle Obama’s Becoming.

She would read me parts of it as we drove.

amber at barnsdale park picnic pizza
We loved driving all over LA. sometimes with no destination in mind.

just holding hands talking about LA.

one day Michelle Obama was a guest at the hotel.

amber found out.
amber with the national guard
she told her boss that she had read the book several times and knew The First Lady loved cheese toast
and asked if it would be OK if she ran across the street and bought a special  toaster oven that could do the right things.
five star hotels love doing things like that for VIPs.
amber at LAX

she got the ok, ran and got the toaster, fresh bread, the fixins for cheese toast and went up to the room.To her surprise Barack Hussein Obama opened the door.

Surprise bc it was top secret that he had arrived while she was out buying the toaster.

Mr President, I have read your wife’s book and I know she likes cheese toast,

so it’s my honor to deliver this to her with our regards.
She said Barack’s face lit up.
I want you to know how hard i tried to make things better for her.
I am so sorry i failed.
amber at the lana del rey concert in las vegas
When her sister said her favorite years were the ones with me i couldnt help thinking, but i wasn’t able to save her.
But we can’t, I guess.
Not always.
But dont let that stop you from trying.
amber doorway

 

 

 

 

a year ago today amber and i broke up

as you probably know, the xbi does not allow me to be in long term relationships

but for four years i was able to get one exemption after another

to the point where i feel like they wanted her here with me

and i could see why, i ate better, i was doing things that they probably liked

and i wasn’t dating any of their enemies

we all knew the hammer was gonna come down, and for it to happen at the same time as the insurrection was mighty dramatic but if anyones a drama ho its the xbi

some things have not changed at all in this apartment and ive gotta fix that

for example her office is pretty much the same

but the worst is my damn icloud shows me pictures of her all the time – at the worst times.

i delete a bunch and then a bunch more magically appear.

i must have taken thousands of pictures of her.

do i know where she is? no. have we been in contact no.

normally that would be a good thing. but in this case i think its best for both of us.

typically i like being in touch with my ex gfs, they were super important to me and i value every relationship i have been in. every.

but sometimes, especially when youve been tied at the hip it’s good to breathe a little and im sure she is enjoying her freedom because i admit, i was a bit possessive with her free time.

i didnt realize how much i was until she was gone.

lately ive been going to one movie after another. something i wouldnta done in the past bc i woulda wanted to see the movie with her, talk about it, and as we would drive home she would read the LA Times review of it aloud and we would either agree or disagree with it.

whereever she is i hope she is happier than shes ever been.

i hope shes safe and healthy and living the life she always wanted.

she deserves it. shes a good person.

i miss weird things about her

i will see a video of hers or a IG story of mine

and i will hear her laugh or how she says something

and it will make me cry

she picked up most of the rest of her things today

she gave me heads up so i drove to santa clarita

my phone notifies me when the security cam goes on

and i saw her enter the apartment and that made me cry

how will she survive?

she made me food, cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes before she left

we had the sweetest relationship because we knew it was doomed

so i did all i could for her

and she would do nice things like that

i want to save her so badly

she is so good inside

the world has been so fucking bad to her

but i cant get in there

the demons have built the most complex wall around her

any time i got close they would yell at her to make me stop

i talked for a long time tonight with AJ and then Chris hepburn

im crying now

its nice to have some more space in the closets and drawers

but if she came back next week it would be damn near impossible for me to say no to her

because i do love her

very badly

even know things are

very bad.

in the bible theres a little aside about an old king

 

let me look it up, yes here it is first kings first chapter second line

Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.”

and sometimes i’ll look at my odometer and then i’ll look at amber’s and i’ll think, did my servants give me this virgin so i could be warm?

then i remember im not king of shit

and amber is not the type to lay in anyone’s bosom for too long

let alone a blogger

but she does take care of me.

right now im eating some peas and carrots, potatoes, and crumbled beyond beef.

her goal is to feed me 5 different vegetables a day.

the beyond beef should count as one, maybe two.

for some reason she wants me alive for a few more years.

i do look good without a shirt

do amber and i have a perfect relationship? yes.

she doesnt mind that im up writing until 5am. she only smirks when i crawl in bed and tell alexa to wake me up at noon.

and often as she rises in the morning i will hear her via ESP think

how is he so sexy at 197 years old? 

but one thing we disagree on is this pandemic.

me, i say stay at home, wear a mask, and limit ways for the deadly bug to get you.

she is young and full of life and loves being out and aboot.

this causes friction. not sexy friction. and not friction that one day will create a diamond.

this is conflict that digs right to the triad of all relationships: trust, honest communication, and the desire for the relationship to continue.

what you dont trust me? she’ll yell.

no, no i dont! i’ll write on a post-it and slap it on Prince’s tail.

unlike most relationships this lack of trust isn’t of a sexual nature, as a libra on the scorpio cusp i dare you to woo her better than i

i just dont trust how close she will talk with strangers, or how close other men want to get to her on the sidewalk.

and then she does the sweetest things like put together dollar store care packages for the homeless

every afternoon as i rise i see her smile turned upside down and i know it’s over one thing: her pissed off ness for being locked up like Rapunzel, who is not allowed to have handsome italian men charge her $700 to give her hair — her beautiful hair — the Sexy Smooth she’s grown accustomed to.

and it’s all my fault.

thats what she tells me.

YOU SAID THIS WOULD BE OVER BY THE FOURTH OF JULY! she reminds me.

how did i know the GOP would let it electorate suffer this fate?

live and learn, i guess.

or just learn.

 

ten things i love about amber

amber doing her hair

1. she works at a fancy hotel. her job is to make magic happen for the guests who are used to having magic happen for them.

she makes the magic happen. every day.

last month she was nominated by two departments for employee of the month. she’s only in one department so that means a totally separate dept. said, yeah our people are good, but amber was better.

2. she loves Tehachapi. no matter where we go, where we are, she says “you know, this reminds me of Tehachapi.”

sometimes i have to remind her that we are at a Wendys. doesn’t matter. she will stand by her statement.

she wants to build a small resort there. i tell her no one wants to vacation there. she says people used to say that about Alaska, now theres boats going up there all the time. Cruise ships even. actually she doesnt say that part, but i can read minds and thats what she was thinking.

3. she is a master at organizing her bills. she uses flash cards and paper clips. And a computer. she will never get a late fee. #goals

amber pink wall

4. i have had the good fortune of being lucky in love. she has never told me once to stop touching her. i think only one or two of my former girlfriends shared that trait. is this TMI? sorry. anyways, i like to touch her to make sure im not dreaming. in dreams weird things happen when you try to touch people or things. usually my hand will go right through or it will turn to sand.

5. she can cry at the drop of a dime. or a penny. or a quarter. she loves change and hates to see gravity abuse it. but seriously we can be driving down the street and we’ll talk about something and immediately her face will scrunch up and turn red and she’ll say Mario told me he would get me insulin the next time his brother goes to Mexico. and tears will appear. unlike me, she doesnt cry in movies though. weird.

6. speaking of movies. one reason i love her is she is super loud in movies. either rustling with candy or fidgeting in her chair. she picks the quietest times to do the loudest wrapper opening and i will say shush. and she will do it really slow WHICH IS WORSE but it makes me laugh inside.

7. she might be part Gemini because she can change her mind superfast. which i like because i love Geminis. so in a way it’s like having a couple girlfriends at once. which is every mans dream sorta.

amber with prince and michael

8. anyways today is her birthday. she wont let me take her out to dinner because she has a road trip planned for later this month. sorta love that too.

9. she has never once pestered me to go out to party with her. she’s on the wagon. enjoys our home. and sees very little need to do much outside these four walls other than eat Thai food or drink Starbucks. being that im a million years old, i appreciate that lack of pressure.

10. i dont think she knows anything about baseball football or basketball. but she will go to any game i get tickets to. and she will have a great time. mostly because in her head she is storing information so she can better aid her hotel guests if they ever ask something nutty like, “hows the sushi at Staples Center?” and she’ll know. angel.

someone asked me to write about the first date i ever had with amber

 

amber cool dress

and heres the crazy thing, i have a terrible memory, which is a main reason why i blog so much

and should probably blog more.

but heres what i remember… through Instagram of all places she noticed that i was taking pics of places near where she lived. this was back when the Academy was where the Academy Museum is now being built. well, she lived a few blocks away.

and either i said or she said, we should hang out after work one day.

i remember we went to Doomies because i had recently eaten a fantastic vegan Big Mac from them at a street fair and i wanted to try it again to see if i was hallucinating.

so i picked Amber up and she had these crazy shorts that rode up high on her hips but were chopped super short.

i was driving a Prius looking car back then, def not the chick magnet muscle car she was accustomed to.

she said she didn’t drink, so i didnt drink either. and i noticed that i hadn’t made a move during a date without liquid courage since… maybe high school?

amber looked so beautiful and knew everything about LA (she’s a native), i hugged her goodnight and putt-putted away in my slowass hybrid.

miracles of miracles she texted me back the next day saying she had a great time.

she may have even included a risqué photograph saying she was impressed that i was a gentleman the whole evening.

after some questioning, she told me she would be interested in seeing Aerosmith play at the Forum with me, Slash was opening. she wore a slinky sparkly dress and i noticed this was the first concert i had gone to without buying a beer since… high school. it was fun, she was cute. i put my hand around her hip for one song and was too scared to kiss her when i dropped her off.

a few days later she texted me, said how much she loved the show and wanted to see another concert with me, did i have anything on the calendar? i said oui, KISS is playing with Def Leppard opening in about two weeks. we went, i was nervous, i was still not drinking, but then the lights spelling K I S S blinked i knew i should and i did

and i must be an incredible kisser because fireworks started exploding

all over the stage, in the audience, pretty much everywhere.

i hear Kiss was so moved by my moves that they now incorporate those pyrotechnics in all of their shows.

you’re welcome.