It's time to Boycott the 2014 Olympic Games

According to sources with the AP, Huffington Post, and others, Russia plans to uphold its law banning anything gay in their country, including lgbt athletes and friends, during the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Time to boycott the 2014 Olympics, my friends.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/russia-anti-gay-olympic-games-sochi_n_3676311.html

Meet the newest addition to my family!

Ladies and Gentlemen-

Please meet the newest addition to my family:

The Mantis.

I was walking to work and there was a yard sale going on. I walked by and saw the Mantis just sitting there and asked how much the bike was for.

The man said, "How much you got?"

"$22," I said, looking in my wallet.

"SOLD!" he said. Turns out this yard sale helps raise money for this young kid, Jacob Topchui, who is fighting Osteosarcoma. When I found that out, I asked the man if he was sure that he wanted to let the bike go for so cheap. Meaning that I wouldn't mind it if he wanted to hold off on selling me the bike to make more money for the cause. He handed me the flyer and told me to like their group on facebook.

"Help us spread the word, and the bike is yours!" He said.

So here I am, informing you of a way you can help, too:



https://www.facebook.com/tmtd6


The Mantis and I are going to have many adventures together!

Boycotting Latvian Vodka will do nothing to Russia

Dear West Hollywood/LGBT Community in the U.S.:

Boycotting Latvian vodka will do nothing to effect the economy or government of Russia.

Russia is run by a mob boss/dictator and the people are helpless but to comply or be killed. Attempting to hurt the economy will only put further wealth into the hands of the people that control and oppress the people of Russia.

But also, Latvia is not Russia. It is a completely different country altogether. Please educate yourselves...

... and do actual activism like writing the President of both the United states and the International Olympic committee and ask them to boycott the 2014 Olympics taking place in Russia. Now doing something like THAT might have an impact.

Why we gotta hate on one of our favourite vodkas made famous to us by Absolutely Fabulous?



Ironically Latvia's flag is a big fucking red and white equal sign....

Just when you thought it was safe to date in L.A. ...

Just when you thought it was safe to date in L.A......

Wait. Have I ever thought dating was healthy in Los Angeles? No.

Safe? Fuck no.

LALALAnd has long been a place where its citizens tend to be always looking over their shoulders at the greener grass on the other side of the fence.

For me, love in Los Angeles has been, in the recent words of the new Pet Shop Boys CD, a Bourgeois construct. Only the advanced, upper class folk of my town seem to be in the actual relationships that last. Only the most beautiful members of my town attract the pretty ones first. So where does that leave the other 97% of us?

No I'm not asking for us to Occupy L.A. romantically. (Whatever the fuck that means)

I'm asking for us...me...to take a leap of faith and get back into the game of love!

I'm freshly back from Europe with new ideals and ideas about life and love and the human spirit. Maybe having countless amount of people in Berlin and Prague show their complete compassion and love for me as a human/stranger has led me to now become a changed man. I'm now more open to actually believing that all people are really good inside. More open to the idea of meeting somebody to stand still with for a while.

Either way, one of the biggest lessons I brought back to LA is to be more open to possibilities. Life is short. Maybe dating in LA isn't that easy. Maybe I will have to kiss a lot of frogs to obtain my prince....

But isn't that what life is all about? Trial and error?

I'm dating again, Los Angeles. And this time with a more open heart and mind... Are you ready for this jelly?

Please Don't tear down the Berlin Wall

Dear Mr. Mayor-

PLEASE DON'T TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!

I write this to you not just as a Los Angeleno, a citizen of Berlin's sister city, but as a BERLINER!

Yes I said it: "ICH BIN EIN BERLINER!"

Because I too have been touched by the magic and enchantment of your city. One of the key factors of the magic in Berlin is the Wall that stands today as the East Side Gallery.

Berlin obviously has a tumultuous past. It's history is vast and it's stories are legendary. The East Side Gallery has become exactly that: A gallery. An exhibit portraying all the wrongs that Berlin has suffered. All the tragedy and the lives lost. But also of a victorious future filled with hope and equality for all man kind.

I first visited your Wall in November of 2012. I remember running my hands along the concrete and graffitied Wall. The energy there was indescribable. I felt a passion for life alongside horrors of human suffering. I felt anguish. But I felt hope. Love. Peace. I openly wept at the Wall and was beyond moved by the shear impact that it's imagery instilled in my head forever.

"As long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand," Reagan once said. To many Berliners, I'm sure the Wall is a scar. It's rife with street art and graffiti and sits on a hotbed of real estate development. Right on the river Spree, I could see the Wall being torn down and replaced with modern architecture. Condos, perhaps.

But you see, I was so surrounded by hope and love when I was at the Wall in November that I too had to leave my mark. I saw some tourists take an ink pen and graffiti the Wall in small print. I wanted to do the same: leave my mark. Let the world know I had been there and seen and felt that incredible energy.

I asked the couple if I could borrow their pen. I had to be quick, so as not to get caught, but I really wanted to say something in line with the emotions I was feeling. Hope. Love. Aspirations of greatness. Tolerance. A Future. I remember pushing back some tears and writing this:

"Love One Another Always -AML, Koelen"

(AML stands for All My Luv.)

When I returned to Berlin for my second time in July of 2013, I was again surrounded by the magic in your city. Berliners and Germans aren't always known for being friendly, but Berlin welcomed me back with open, motherly arms and embraced me like I, too, was a Berliner. Each time I have visited your city I found the aforementioned stereotype to not be true at all. Berliners ARE a warm people. They are kind and considerate. They are welcoming. I had more strangers help me in my two weeks in Berlin than I have had in my entire life. Either my experiences are unique, or Berlin itself is changing. Berlin is embracing the world as the world embraces Berlin.

Everyday I road the U Bahn, I would cross the bridge at Warshauer Strasse and see the heart beat of my favorite city. The Wall stood sentinel, guarding the city and reminding us of it's past but telling us to look forward.

My last day in Berlin, I returned to the Wall in person, to once again feel what I had previously felt. I was saddened to see that the city is using the Wall as a new exhibit to showcase walls around the world and the division they cause between people. I know that these beautiful images were covering up street art and graffiti, but hasn't street art and graffiti become another trademark of Berlin?

You as Berliners have some of the best street art in the world. And you've embraced it in your murals and your graffiti. In that way every one is free to express themselves. Any single idea can be shouted from the rooftops or etched onto the side of a building. This is a far cry from your city's recent past.

It took a little breaking and entry and climbing over a fence, but I was able to use my photos of the Wall in November to find the exact place that I had graffitied it.

To my shock and pure amazement, my graffiti was still there! 8 months had past. New street art, new tags, and new paint had been thrown on the wall, yet someone (or many) had respected my message enough to leave it be. Sure, my segment looks like it is next to be torn down: it has a turbine in front of it and is surrounded by construction tools. Yet, there was my message clear as day:

Love One Another Always.

You see Mr. Mayor, Berliners…this is no ordinary Wall.

It has become what you have affectionately began to call it: The East Side Gallery. It is a giant, outdoor art exhibit. Unlike most art exhibits in the world, this one anyone can contribute to. Anyone can leave their mark on. Anyone is free to see it, touch it, absorb the air, and let it's majesty and energy set in.

What once stood as a divide is now one of the most visited places in all of Berlin. It is beyond a tourist destination: it is THE destination in Berlin.

The Berlin Wall…the East Side Gallery is now a beacon of hope that stands to let its citizens and visitors remember the past and embrace a future of peace.

So I say again.

Mr. Mayor and Berliners:

Please don't tear down this wall.


Koelen Andrews
koelenandrews@gmail.com
http://koelen.blogspot.com


(I have sent copies to the other mayors as well as the local newspapers in Berlin. I apologize for writing this in English. Mein Deutsch ist sehr schlecht.)

To Bicycle or NOT to Bicycle?...that is the question

One of my vows to myself after returning from Berlin and bicycling everywhere is I want to buy and learn to ride a bicycle better.

The problem is I live in Los Angeles. Literally 100% of my friends that bicycle in the City of Angels has been hit by a car while on their bicycles. My girl friend, just 4 days ago, tragically lost her boyfriend who died after being hit by a car while on his bicycle.

Hence, I'm not that keen on dying. I'm keen on living and bicycling the shit outta my city. Can I do it? Also, I don't want to spend a lot of money on a bike, so if anyone has any leads on a free bike or cheap one or one you are not using, then let me know...

Gotta love Southern Cali!

Life isn't always so hard in Southern California. Yesterday, I woke up with a feeling like I had no idea what I was going to do with my day. I had returned from Europe the day before and had knocked out all of the errands I was going to run.

When I saw that my friends were hiking Runyon Canyon, I decided to join. That evolved into filling up my day very quickly. Today is no exception.

I'm writing this moments before I get ready to pick up my friend Jenny in Culver City and head to the beach in Santa Monica. Yes, I often forget that there is a big, fat, fucking ocean right at my doorstep. And it is summer after all...

Tonight there is a gathering of the Los Angeles "chapter" of couchsurfing.com that I plan on attending at the HMS Bounty in Koreatown. Followed by karaoke in West Hollywood for my friend Tim's birthday and I've got myself a fully booked day in the city ofAngels.

Gotta love Southern Cali!

Queen Elizabeth II: UK Marriage Equality Official!!!

Queen Elizabeth II of the UK has given her approval of the marriage equality law!

We just got marriage equality in the UK. Germany, are you next?

http://www.france24.com/en/20130716-uk-parliament-legalises-same-sex-marriage-gay-england-wales

Missing Europa

So it is my first full day back in Los Angeles and I'm already missing Prague, but mostly BERLIN. I fell in love with Berlin while I was there and now have a desire to summer there every year from here on out, just like my friend Komisha. When you get Europe in your blood, it is hard to let go!

Ich liebe dich, Europa!

BERLIN

Sorry I haven't written in a while. But when you are in Berlin, there is hardly ever a point to sit down!

I absolutely love it here. Not just the partying and 24 hour life, but the Spree and laying out in the sun has taken up several of our days here. I love the summer in Europe.

Tomorrow, there are talks of me going to Prague. I'm desperate to travel and see the world, yet my time in my neu lieblings stadt is dwindling: I've only 8 days left in this city of dreams. I think I'm also scared to leave Berlin because of the social network I have here thanks to Irene's friends. That and I speak the language.

Well, if I can Berlin, then Prague shouldn't be as challenging. At this point on my 4th day in Berlin, anything is possible. Bring it on!